2015 Bucket List
by Astrocam
Summary: What happens when Hyuuga Hinata decides to make a bucket list for her New Year's resolutions to keep her life exciting, and gets more than she bargained for when one of the things on the list is to kiss the cute blond guy in her martial arts class? Naru/Hina - I do not own the cover image, credit goes to the owner
1. A Step Forward

**Astrocam: Hey guys. I've been on here for quite a few years, but have been inactive for quite some time. However, I've come up with a new story. This one just kinda came to me last night when I couldn't sleep. It's been a while since I've written fanfiction, so I don't know how this will turn out. But I hope I can keep going with it. That's, if you guys enjoy it.**

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**Deets:**  
**Protagonists:** Hyuuga Hinata and Uzumaki Naruto  
**Pairings:** Hina/Naru, Sasu/Saku, Ten/Neji, Shika/Ino  
**Main Setting:** Konoha  
**Rated:** M for graphic sex scenes  
**Summary:** The past year was horrible for Hinata. To her it felt like things just kept getting worse. Losing her job to her younger, irresponsible sister Hanabi, her father basically treating her like a child and didn't let her do anything fun aside from a martial arts class, and she felt like a prisoner in her own home. However, when the new year 2015 rolls around, Hinata decides to create a bucket list, and make a conscious effort to cross things out on that list. One of those things includes getting a kiss from the guy in her martial art's class who she's had a crush on for the past year – Uzumaki Naruto. But, although all she wants is a kiss, she gets more than she bargained for.

**Disclaimer: I do not own _Naruto_. Any resemblance to any other fanfiction or story is purely coincidence. **

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**Chapter One – A Step Forward**

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_It's the new year. A new chance to change my life. _Hyuuga Hinata was deep in thought as she sat on her bed, gazing out the window at the light blanket of snow that covered her front yard. Snowflakes were trickling down softly, as if she were in a snow globe, and everything outside looked beautiful.

It was already January tenth, but nothing interesting nor exciting had happened to Hinata. She'd even spent the New Year's celebrations at home with her stoic cousin Neji and her even more stoic father, Hiashi. Her younger sister, Hanabi, had gone out to party. Sure, Hinata's friends had thrown a party, but her extremely strict father had forbid her to go. He knew there was going to be alcohol involved, and, even though Hinata wouldn't drink it, Hiashi didn't trust her enough.

Neji had stayed home just because the girl he liked, Tenten, was at home herself, sick due to a cold, and Neji had spent the night skyping her. Neji was allowed to go to the party. He'd just chosen not to. Hanabi was also allowed to do whatever she wanted. It was just Hinata that her father picked on. Neji was their cousin, but lived with them because his parents had been killed and Hiashi was named as his godfather.

But Hinata knew why her father picked on her more than the others. It was because both Neji and Hanabi were super smart, geniuses, although Neji was more advanced than Hanabi. Hinata's father thought Hanabi a more worthy candidate for the job that Hinata had originally taken as head cashier at the business her father owned, despite the fact that Hanabi had a more wild and irresponsible side than Hinata. So, Hinata's father treated Hinata like a child, because he thought she was inadequate to take care of herself, although Hinata had not given him a reason to mistrust her.

However, Hanabi was well-known to drink and even experiment sometimes with drugs at parties. She dressed oddly, almost goth or punk like depending on her mood, wearing a lot of black and caking on makeup. Her father forbade her from dressing like this, so she would leave the house wearing normal clothing and then change at school.

She also hid the drinking and drug experimenting from her father. Hinata had found out when she'd accidentally grabbed Hanabi's purse instead of her own, then went to look inside the purse and found a pack of cigarettes. She'd confronted Hanabi about it, and the girl reluctantly admitted it, but begged Hinata not to tell Hiashi. So, Hinata remained silent. She also knew that if she'd told her father about Hanabi's behaviour, he would simply say that she was trying to make her younger sister look bad.

She also knew that Hanabi was no longer a virgin, and had probably slept with at least five guys, despite being only fifteen years old.

Hinata was twenty years old, and on her second year in a three-year college program for nursing. In her spare time, she took a weekly martial arts class called Ninjutsu, and was on her orange belt which meant she was an advanced beginner. As she thought about her class, a shy smile came across her face when she recalled the cute blond boy who was always loud, obnoxious, yet a good fighter and extremely good-looking with his bright blue eyes. Or, so Hinata thought.

She had sparred with him a few times, but he beat her each time due to the fact that she nearly had a heart attack whenever he made contact with her, and it distracted her. He was nice to her, and often had encouraging words for her if she lost a match whether with him or someone else. While they appeared to be good friends during the class, they didn't hang out outside of the class, which was something Hinata would have loved to do with him. But she was always too shy to ask, or to strike up a real conversation with him, other than respond with a nervous stammer and blush when he spoke to her. He probably thought she was weird. For all she knew, he could have a girlfriend, but he never mentioned one.

His name was Uzumaki Naruto. And she really wanted to kiss him.

That thought sparked an idea. She pulled out an old notebook and a pen, then opened to a blank page and wrote:

_2015 Bucket List_

The more things she wrote, the more came to her mind, and the more things she realized she wanted to do. She hadn't really thought about it before, but now that she was seeing it in front of her, it amazed her.

_\- Get a real job, no matter if Father thinks I am a good fit or not.  
\- Earn my blue belt in Ninjutsu.  
\- Travel to more faraway places.  
\- Go to more parties and hang out with my friends despite what Father says.  
\- Lose my virginity, but not just on a one night stand. With someone special of course.  
\- Prove to Father that I can take care of myself, I am twenty years old after all.  
\- Get more hobbies such as writing, reading, or some hands-on hobby.  
\- Go swimming at a beach and wear a bikini for the first time.  
\- Get a cute, simple butterfly tattoo on my upper right shoulderblade.  
\- If Hanabi's behaviour gets out of control, I need to tell Father no matter what he will accuse me of. He can't be blind to her forever. Besides, she might need help. It's for her own good.  
\- Ask Naruto to hang out with me._

And, finally, she came to the last one.

_\- Kiss Naruto (and maybe lose my virginity to him too – but I can't think too far)._

She blushed when she pictured his blue eyes, his wide smile and his encouraging words. His laugh when she said something remotely funny, his muscles as he sparred with her. The fact that he tried to avoid hurting her, unlike the other students.

Her face turned even more red when she pictured him closing his eyes and leaning in to close the gap between their lips...

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"Hinata! Watch out!" yelled a familiar voice from across the room.

"Huh?" Hinata blinked her eyes, but didn't manage to duck in time to avoid a hit. The guy who'd hit her was tall and strong, and had yet to learn to control his own strength since he was just a newbie.

Suddenly she was on the floor, but luckily the floor was padded with mats so she was alright, just a little in shock. The hit had landed on her shoulder.

"Shit, my bad! Sorry!" The guy was above her instantly, and so was their martial art's instructor, Hatake Kakashi.

"Are you alright, Hinata?" Kakashi asked kindly. She didn't answer for a moment, still stunned and embarrassed by all the attention.

Then, blue eyes and blond hair popped into her vision. "Guys, give her some room, she's shy," Naruto explained. He glared at the big guy who'd hit her. "Watch your strength, Juugo."

"I am sorry!" Juugo backed out of her vision.

Hinata could tell her face was red, so she tried to shake it off and slowly sit up, even though the muscles in her shoulder pulled. "I'm fine," she grunted, but she knew she was going to feel it tomorrow.

"Are you sure?" Kakashi asked. "You don't want me to take a look at it? It's my fault, I shouldn't have allowed a big guy like Juugo to take you on."

Naruto put one hand on her back and another on her non-injured shoulder to support her as she sat up fully. Her heart was pounding frantically, as it did whenever he made contact with her, and she struggled to find her voice to speak to Kakashi.

"N-no, it's ok, I-I accepted the challenge," she pointed out, her voice stammering because of how close to her Naruto was. "I'm fine. It'll just b-be sore tomorrow, is all," she tried to reassure him, forcing a smile despite how nervous she was with Naruto's closeness.

Kakashi nodded. "If you're sure. I'll let you sit out a few rounds, and go talk to Juugo."

"Tell him I-I forgive him," she told Kakashi as the older man left to speak to Juugo, who was leaning against the wall, still looking upset.

Suddenly, Naruto's voice was right by her ear. "Hey. Do you want me to look at your shoulder? I know you'd be embarrassed with Kakashi doing so while everyone stares at you. I'll ask him if we can leave the room." He was so close, his breath tickled her neck and gave her goosebumps.

She nodded, but the movement sent a sharp pain through her shoulder. Juugo must have hit her harder than she thought. "Y-yes, I'd like that, t-thank you." It seemed that, despite her never telling Naruto she was nervous when too many people paid attention to her, especially if she was injured, he seemed to pick up on it, and other things about her that she hadn't told him or many people.

"I'll be right back." Naruto released her and she almost fell backwards but caught herself with her good arm. She watched him go over to Kakashi, and they spoke for a few seconds before Kakashi nodded, then he gazed at Hinata in concern. Hinata just smiled at her martial arts sensei, but her heart was threatening to explode because she was thinking of the idea of Naruto taking a look at her shoulder. That would mean she'd have to take her shirt off so he could better feel if there were any injuries.

_Calm down, calm down, just get up... _she chided herself as she struggled to her feet.

Naruto was there in an instant, and had his arm around her waist to support her as he didn't want to put pressure on her injured shoulder. Hinata put her good arm around his shoulders, and was feeling ready to faint.

"Juugo hit you pretty hard," Naruto murmured as he helped her out of the room. The building was empty aside from the martial arts students, but Naruto took her to one of the empty rooms and closed the door behind them for more privacy.

"I'm fine, really Naruto-kun." Hinata tried to find her voice as he released her, much to her disappointment.

"No, I need to check. I just want to be sure you're ok." He shrugged, smiling sheepishly. "I feel like I have to kind of, I don't know, protect you or something. It's weird," he laughed softly, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand. Hinata had seen him do this other times while talking to her. It was almost like his own nervous habit.

Hinata's heart started pounding yet again. She loved his laugh, and now he'd said that he felt like her protector.

_Best day ever!_ She internally fist-pumped, but kept an outward calm appearance. "So...how do you want to check?" She cleared her throat, trying to speak more clearly.

"Um...well I don't want to sound like a perv or anything, but...maybe it would be best to...um, take your shirt off?" He actually sounded nervous as he suggested this. "I won't look at the front!" he added as if to make her feel better.

_You can look all you want to! Hell you can do all kinds of shit to me and I'd love it! _Hinata's perverted thoughts cried out, but she fought to keep from fainting as she nodded. "Alright. Turn around," she told him, feeling braver than ever before. She was about to take her shirt off in front of the guy she had been crushing on for a year.

Naruto obeyed, and she also turned her back to him, then removed her shirt (which took a bit of effort due to the pain) and hung it on the back of a chair. She kept her back facing him as she told him, "I-I'm ready."

_Ready for you to fuck me! Holy fuck he's about to touch your bare skin..._Hinata felt like she wanted to throw up, she was so nervous.

Within seconds, Naruto rested his hand on her injured shoulder. "Um, again, I don't want to sound like a pervert, but could you...maybe pull your bra strap down? Just so I can feel it better? Really, I'm not trying to come on to you..." he laughed nervously again.

Hinata's face turned bright red again, but she managed to do as he said with shaking fingers.

"Calm down, you're shaking like crazy," he said soothingly as he placed his hand on her shoulder again. "I'm not going to do anything to you. I just need to make sure you didn't pull a muscle or something."

So, Naruto could tell she was nervous as hell. _Nice, you can't even hide it,_ she sneered at herself. She took a couple of deep breaths and let Naruto do his thing.

His soft hand glided across her skin, lightly massaging and asking if it hurt anywhere. She flinched when it hurt, and he would massage where she pointed out the pain. He eventually put his hands on both of her shoulders, and she pulled her other bra strap down while he gave her a full massage.

_This is how porn movies start out, _she couldn't help but thinking. She might have checked out a few in her day...

Secretly, she wanted him to spin her around and plant a kiss on her lips, and for them to have sex right there, but she knew that couldn't happen. For one thing, she didn't have a condom, and she doubted he did either. For two, the class would be ending soon, and Kakashi would wonder where they had gone, and probably come looking for them, and that would be the end of them.

"If you don't mind me saying so...you have beautiful skin," he murmured, and his voice was right next to her ear again.

That caused her heart to flare up again. It had been fairly alright for the past few minutes. "T-thank you," she couldn't help but grin, but she was still facing forward and not looking at him.

"I feel your heart beating really fast again," Naruto pointed it out. "Why are you so nervous? I'm just massaging you."

_If only you knew this was the most intimate experience I've had with a male, ever...also you happen to be my crush and I want to kiss and fuck you... _she answered in her head, but then told him, "I-I've never had a massage before." Which was true, but, _lame! _Ugh why did she say that?

"Really?" Naruto sounded doubtful, as if he didn't believe her answer. "I'm no professional, but I just wanted to help you feel better."

"It's working," she told him, and this time she was open and truthful.

"Good. I don't want you to be in pain."

"Thank you for this, really," she tried to calm herself down again, but was disappointed when he dropped his hands from her shoulders.

"I think that should be it. Kakashi will be wondering where we went." Naruto explained. "You can put your shirt back on."

_NO! Please...kiss me!_ She begged internally. She realized she'd have to watch herself or she might accidentally speak her thoughts aloud. But, she listened to what Naruto had said, and adjusted her bra straps, then put her shirt back on. She grunted a few times, her shoulder was still stiff, but it wasn't as painful.

When she was fully dressed, she turned back to Naruto, who had turned away again to give her privacy. "Hey. I'm done," she told him, having calmed herself down a bit.

"Let's head back." Naruto smiled at her, but he didn't try to support or touch her as the two headed back to Kakashi's classroom.

Just before they reached the classroom, Hinata stopped Naruto. She was feeling bold after what she had just let him do, so she decided to cross one thing off her bucket list.

"Umm...before w-we go in, I was just wondering," she started nervously, the stammer returning.

"Yes?" Naruto waited patiently.

"I-if...I don't know, we could...er, hang out o-outside of the class?" she practically whispered the last few words, feeling her cheeks heat up again.

He blinked at her, and she prepared herself for the rejection. _Why did you go and screw up that moment?_ She scolded herself.

Instead, he smiled again. "Yeah, that would be fun! When are you free?"

Her thoughts took a 360 degree turn. _You should have done this sooner. It wasn't that hard, was it?_

"Umm...I have to ask my father, he is the one who gives me p-permission..." she trailed off, embarrassed that she'd just admitted that, at twenty years old, she still had to ask her father's permission to hang out with friends.

"Hey, it's ok. In the meantime, I'll give you my cell phone number after class since my phone is in the room, and await your call or text." Naruto winked at her and she almost melted into the floor, but just managed a stiff nod.

They went back into the room where Kakashi had everyone sitting on the mats and was making some speech about safety in the class. When Hinata and Naruto entered, everyone turned to look, and now Hinata wanted to disappear into the floor for a different reason.

Naruto spoke up for her. "She's fine, guys. Nothing serious."

"I'm sorry!" Juugo cried out again from his position on the floor.

Hinata smiled at him for reassurance, and her and Naruto went to sit at the back of the class to listen to what Kakashi had to say.

During the speech, she felt Naruto's knee brush up against her own a few times, as they were sitting cross legged. She realized he was paying attention to Kakashi so the brushes must have been accidental. But they still sent a tingle through her, and she recalled his warm, soft, strong hands on her bare shoulders.

And, he'd agreed to hang out with her.

_Best day ever!_ She again celebrated mentally at how well her luck had turned today. Maybe today would be the first of many.

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**Astrocam: So, I hope you enjoyed my first upload in a long time. I'll keep going with it, if you guys like it. Yes, Hinata's secretly a bit perverted, but aren't we all? :P  
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	2. The Confession

**Astrocam: Hey guys, so it seems like quite a few of you favourited and followed this story so far, so thanks for that. And the three people who reviewed, thank you :) I'm switching it up a bit, I think I may switch between Naruto's and Hinata's point of views randomly during the story. But anyway, hope you like chapter two :) By the way, if anyone knows if you can get the "strikethrough" font on this, like as she crosses off things on her bucket list, I'd like to know. But for now, her crossed off items are in bold.  
**

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**Chapter Two – The Confession**

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**Naruto's POV**

After class, Naruto did as promised and gave Hinata his phone number. He told her that she could text him at anytime, whether she wanted to hang out or just talk. Besides, Hinata was cute, and very friendly and nice. She didn't judge him for his obnoxious ways, like a lot of the students did in the class.

As they parted ways outside the building, Naruto's mind kept going back to the moment when he finally got to touch her bare skin. He'd been surprised that she had let him at all, and hadn't run away screaming, or clobbered him in the head, as a certain pink-haired female friend of is would have. Haruno Sakura, said pink-haired friend, had been his crush since high school. They'd kept in contact, but of course, she'd finally managed to win over Naruto's best friend, Uchiha Sasuke's heart. Naruto wasn't bitter about it, he'd just predicted that it would happen eventually, so that was why he'd only stayed friends with Sakura while she won Sasuke over.

But there was something different about Hinata. Naruto felt something for her, he just wasn't sure what.

Now, he was back in his apartment, alone, with the television on. He did have a social life, and lots of friends, but at the same time, he could get lonely. He hadn't had an official girlfriend yet, despite being twenty years old. Girls considered him too weird, loud and obnoxious. There were other girls in his martial arts class besides Hinata, but they just ignored him if he tried to speak to them.

He just wanted the companionship of a cute girl, someone he could cuddle up in front of the TV with, take her out on dates, hang out with her.

His mind kept going back to the moment when he'd turned around to see Hinata half-naked in front of him. Of course, he wouldn't have made her uncomfortable by purposely trying to peek at her front, but he may or may not have leaned over during the massage to gaze for a second into her wonderful cleavage and wonder what it would be like to be inside of her...well, who could blame him? She had large boobs. It was hard for anyone not to notice.

Suddenly, his cell phone lit up with a text. It was Hinata. A grin spread over his face as he reached for his phone. Even when his few female friends texted him, including Sakura, they didn't make him react like this. He tried to shake it off and appear as normal, even though Hinata couldn't see him.

**Hinata: Naruto-kun? Father said I'm not allowed. But I'm going to meet you anyway.**

Naruto frowned. Her father must be strict, she was twenty years old, she should be allowed to hang out with anyone she wanted. He typed back.

**Naruto: I'm sorry, I don't want to get you in trouble...**

** Hinata: No, I want to see you. I give up caring about what he says. He can't control me forever. I have never given him a reason not to trust me, but he never trusts me anyway. **

Naruto was surprised by her willingness to disobey her father just to see him. It made him feel...fluttery inside. But he also worried about the consequences she would face if her father were to find out about her activities.

**Naruto: That's true. I don't have any parents, so I wouldn't know. I do have a guardian, who raised me since I was a kid. But I live on my own now, and he just comes to visit me. He wasn't too strict with me, at least he let me have a social life.**

** Hinata: You don't have any parents?**

** Naruto: I will tell you about it when we hang out. So, when you want to hang out? I have a job, but I don't work for the next couple days. **

** Hinata: Umm, is tomorrow ok? I can just tell my father that I'm going out to go shopping for a few hours.**

** Naruto: Yes, that's fine. Where do you want to meet? I have a car.**

** Hinata: Can we meet somewhere private? Just in case someone I know sees me. It's just that, I wouldn't want them telling my cousin Neji or my sister Hanabi that they saw me with you. It's not that I'm embarrassed to be seen with you. **

** Naruto: No, no, it's ok. Well, it's kinda cold outside to be...outside. Um, well, if you want, you could come to my apartment. **

** Hinata: I will tell my father eventually. It's just...I don't know what to do about it right now. And yes, I can meet you at your apartment. Just give me the address.**

Naruto could picture her blushing at his suggestion to hang out at his place. He never failed to noticed that she blushed and stammered a lot while around him. It was an obvious sign of her crush on him, and he knew it, even though she hadn't told him. They chatted for a few minutes before Hinata announced she had to go have supper, and then Naruto began to prepare for Hinata's visit tomorrow by cleaning up his messy apartment.

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**Hinata's POV**

Hinata couldn't believe it. In just two short hours, she would be at Naruto's apartment. Alone. With him.

The day after making plans with Naruto, she'd woken up a nervous wreck, after a restless sleep. And yet, she felt too hyped up and anxious to even think about having a nap before she headed to his place.

She'd had to lie to her father, something she'd never done before, but he had believed her. He knew she often went to the malls by herself, or with one of her very close girl friends such as Tenten, Neji's crush. Hiashi just didn't approve of her hanging out with friends of the opposite gender, or going to parties, or social events.

Her mind drifted back to Naruto as she got ready. How his hands had felt on her bare skin. Her shoulder was still sore, but it wasn't too bad. His massage really had helped. And Hinata wondered if maybe he would kiss her today.

She shook her head. _Nah. He doesn't even know you like him. Well, you haven't told him yet. And he probably doesn't feel the same about you. _

"Yeah? If so, why did he want me to take my shirt off?" Hinata asked herself. Good thing her father's mansion was big enough so that no one else would hear her talking to herself.

_It was just for medical reasons. He was caring for you. Doesn't mean he has a crush on you._

Hinata ignored herself and continued getting ready. She decided to dress a little more sexy, as Naruto hadn't seen her outside of the martial arts class, where she either wore a uniform or baggy, comfy clothes. But she wouldn't want to alarm her father, so she kept it just appropriate enough that he wouldn't get suspicious.

She put on a black tank top underneath a black top that was solid in the front, but lacy along the neck, shoulders and sleeves (the sleeves were long). She wore her favourite darkwash skinny jeans, and added a gold necklace with a gold ring, neutral makeup, and she was done.

Before she left, she remembered something that she had forgotten to do in her excitement last night. She jumped up from her vanity and went to her bedside table to grab the notebook she'd written her bucket list in.

Time to cross off one of the two main things on her list.

_2015 Bucket List_

_\- Get a real job, no matter if Father thinks I am a good fit or not  
\- Earn my blue belt in Ninjutsu.  
\- Travel to more faraway places.  
\- Go to more parties and hang out with my friends despite what Father says.  
\- Lose my virginity, but not just on a one night stand. With someone special of course.  
\- Prove to Father that I can take care of myself, I am twenty years old after all.  
\- Get more hobbies such as writing, reading, or some hands-on hobby.  
\- Go swimming at a beach and wear a bikini for the first time.  
\- Get a cute, simple butterfly tattoo on my upper right shoulderblade.  
\- If Hanabi's behaviour gets out of control, I need to tell Father no matter what he will accuse me of. He can't be blind to her forever. Besides, she might need help. It's for her own good.  
**\- Ask Naruto to hang out with me. **(HE AGREED!)  
\- Kiss Naruto (and maybe lose my virginity to him too – but I can't think too far)._

She was happy that she could cross off one of her most desired wishes. It had come true. The first wish of hers this year to come true.

She hoped many more would follow.

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Soon enough, following the directions Naruto had given her, she had arrived at his apartment building and parked in the designated area outside the front door. She texted him to tell him she'd arrived, and he told her he would meet her in the lobby, as he had to let her into the building using a key that only tenants carried.

Hinata took a few seconds in her car to take deep breaths and calm herself, but her heart was already fluttering, her mind rushing a hundred miles an hour. What would Naruto look like wearing casual clothing? She hadn't seen him outside of the martial arts class yet either, so she was eager to see how he dressed normally. How would he react on seeing her outfit, or would he react at all? What could they talk about? What if she got too shy and nervous and just stammered everything, or didn't talk at all? Would he think she was weird?

She finally managed to calm herself enough so that she could step out of her car and head towards the front doors of the building. Naruto was there within a couple of minutes, and he used his key to let her into the lobby.

Once she was inside, standing next to him, she looked him up and down. He was wearing normal dark jeans, an orange shirt with black trim and looking his usual, handsome self. Her heart began fluttering.

"Hey," he grinned at her.

She felt her face heating up already as she fought to be able to speak clearly, instead her voice came out a very unattractive squeak. "H-hi!"

He just snickered at her obvious nervousness. "So, let's head up, yeah?" he offered, gesturing for her to walk next to him as he headed towards the elevators. "I'm on the tenth floor."

Hinata fell into step beside him, managing to calm herself so she could talk a bit better, but she was still anxious as hell about spending a few hours alone with Naruto in his apartment. "O-oh, about the middle of the building."

"Yeah, this building has nineteen floors."

They made small talk while they headed up to his floor, and Hinata found herself slowly begin to relax as she realized they had more in common than she had thought. Same favourite type of music, same favourite colour, same mindsets on certain things. It was nice to talk with someone like-minded, and she felt more and more comfortable with him.

Once they reached his floor, they got off the elevator and he led her about ten feet down the hallway, past a couple of doors before stopping in front of one that had the number "three" on it.

"Just so you know, when you come here again, you can go to the call machine down in the entryway, just before the doors to the lobby, and type in the code '1903' and it'll buzz me so I can come down and get you," he instructed her as he turned the key into the lock on the door and opened the door. "Well, this is my place. It's not much. Just a one bedroom place, with a living room, kitchen and bathroom." He shrugged as he led the way inside, closing the door behind her once she entered, too.

Hinata took her shoes and coat off, and Naruto did the same with his. He then gave her a quick tour. It was simple, very plainly decorated, but then again most guys weren't into home décor. But at least it was neat and tidy, not cluttered or messy. That in itself impressed Hinata. She liked to be in a clean environment.

"Alright, that's that," Naruto explained once he finished showing her his bedroom. "I know, I don't decorate much, but I'm just not that interested. I have a few pictures on the wall as I showed you, but that's about it." he shrugged, smiling sheepishly.

Hinata just smiled back at him. He hadn't mentioned her outfit yet, but she hadn't said anything about his either. "I-it's cute, and nice, I like it," she complimented his apartment. "I wish I could live on my own. But Father must keep an eye on me at all times." She sighed sadly. "I wonder if he will ever let me leave."

Naruto placed a sympathetic hand on her shoulder. "I'm sure he will, most young adults move out of their parent's homes by age twenty-five or thirty at least. So don't worry, you still have lots of time. Hey, what do you want to do? Are you hungry? Do you want a snack?" He suddenly turned from sympathetic friend to company host.

"N-no, thanks, I'm fine," Hinata assured him. "I ate before coming over." She was aware that his hand was still on her shoulder, and was trying hard to keep herself calm, though her heartbeat was steadily increasing.

His hand moved gently from her shoulder to her back as he guided her to his bed, and they sat on it next to each other, their legs over the side. But he kept his hand on her back. Hinata didn't protest – she had come to love his touch.

"You're really pretty," he blurted suddenly. "I haven't seen you outside of class before. I like it." He grinned again, and Hinata could swear she saw a faint tinge of red in his cheeks.

Hinata gave up trying to stay calm and her breathing and heart rate accelerated. "T-thank you, you're cute too," she managed to get out. Cute was an understatement, but her mouth wasn't working with her brain.

"Haha, thanks. I know you're nervous again. Just calm down." He rubbed her back soothingly and seemed to be inching closer to her on the bed. Their knees were touching, now.

_You're not helping me calm down! _She cried out in her mind, but managed to bite her tongue to keep from saying it aloud. Instead, she closed her eyes, taking in his touch.

He seemed to grow more bold in touching her, because he inched closer so that his right side was pressed up against her left side, and his arm was around her waist now, his hand resting on her stomach. She became more confident too and leaned her head on his chest.

_Holy hell what is happening right now? You might get that kiss after all..._ she cheered to herself as Naruto's hand began tracing small circles on her stomach.

**Naruto's POV**

No other girl had made Naruto feel like this before. No other girl had let him get this close to her. Hinata seemed to be enjoying his affections as she leaned into him, her head resting on his chest, the top of her head against his cheek. His heart was fluttering like crazy, and he really wanted to do something but wasn't sure if it would freak Hinata out. Maybe she only wanted to cuddle. They stayed silent for a moment, listening to each other's rapid breathing and heartbeats.

Then, Naruto decided to get in a more comfortable position, and released Hinata for a moment. She gave him a bit of a sad look, but then realized what he was doing. He laid down on his bed on his back, and opened his arms to her. "Come here." His heart was in his throat, but she did as he said, and laid next to him, her head resting on his chest again.

_There's no better time to tell her, dude, you like her!_ His thoughts chided him.

He responded to his thoughts. _Yes, I know I do. And she obviously likes me. But does she want a relationship? Then we have the problem of her father..._

_ Duhhh. I can see it in her eyes, doofus. If you wait too long like you did with Sakura, some other jerk might sweep Hinata off her feet. Not that Sasuke's a jerk, well he kind of is..._

_ Okay, shut up! Jeeze. _

Naruto took a deep breath, and just let the words come tumbling out.

"Hinata...Hina-chan..." he used a nickname he'd called her a couple of times during class. That got her attention and she lifted her head to look at him, her beautiful lavender eyes gazing into his own ocean-blue ones.

"Y-yes?" she murmured, her face turning red again.

"I-I know this might seem forward or too soon but...for the past year we've known each other in class, you've always been my favourite. I felt like whenever someone hurt you, even accidentally, I had to protect you and make sure you're alright. You joined the class weaker and smaller than everyone else, with no confidence, but now you've improved so much, it's really amazing. Even though you're still smaller than everyone else," he joked, and she smiled shyly. "I was shocked when you asked me to hang out with you yesterday. I never expected that from you. There have been so many times I wanted to ask you, too. I guess I was just more chicken than you were." He laughed nervously, and Hinata's eyes were wide now.

"W-what are you trying to say, Naruto-kun?" she murmured.

Naruto took a deep breath. This was his first time openly confessing his feelings to a girl. "I like you. A lot. As in, more than friends." He stopped, to wait for her reaction, bracing himself for the rejection that he was so used to getting.

Instead she turned bright red – and collapsed on top of him in a dead faint.

* * *

**Astrocam: Well, that went well. :P How will Hinata react when she wakes up and fully realizes what he's said? Will she get that kiss she's been wanting? What will she do about her strict father? Until next time, folks.  
**


	3. It's Official

**Astrocam: Wow, I never expected this many reviews, favourites and follows already, so thank you :) Glad you seem to be enjoying it, and I'm going to try and update as quickly as possible, since I know people like fast updates. I'm just writing this as I go, so there might be a few mistakes, even though I go over things before I post them. Hopefully everything's good, and you guys enjoy it :)**

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**Chapter Three – It's Official **

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**Hinata's POV**

When Hinata came to, her mind was foggy for a few seconds at first, but then she realized where she was. In Naruto's arms. He'd just confessed to her that he liked her as more than a friend. What the hell was going on here?

His cerulean blue eyes stared at her in concern. "Hina-chan? What's wrong? Why did you faint?"

Hinata shook her head, trying to get rid of the fogginess. "N-nothing, Naruto-kun!" she let out a small giggle. "I-I like you, too."

A big smile spread across his face. "Wow, really? I thought I'd scared you."

"Hehe, no, I was just, um, e-excited..." Hinata trailed off, realizing her thoughts were still scrambled. She moved so that she was sitting up beside him, rather than sprawled on top of him. He was still laying down, staring up at her.

"You look really beautiful today," Naruto continued. "I really like that shirt. So, um, you like me, I like you." He sat up too, so that he was facing her.

Hinata couldn't stop blushing. She knew that her face must be beet-red. "T-thank you. Yes, w-what happens now?"

"Well, I believe it's time for me to ask you out. So, Hinata-chan, will you be my girlfriend?" Naruto asked bluntly, but kept the smile on his face.

She didn't hesitate to answer. "Y-yes!"

Naruto then proceeded to do something Hinata had been dreaming of for a year. He closed the gap in between their lips and pressed his lips to hers, softly.

Hinata hadn't been kissed before, so she was nervous. She hoped she didn't suck too badly at doing it, but then she tried to recall the porn movies she'd watched. After a few seconds, Naruto began laughing, with his lips still against hers. He broke the kiss.

"Hina-chan, calm down. Don't worry, I'm not laughing at you. I just wanted to show you a few things."

She was scared that she had messed it up and Naruto wouldn't want to kiss her again. She was also embarrassed. "I-I'm sorry. I haven't been kissed b-before."

"I kind of guessed. It's ok, we all have to start somewhere. I've been kissed only twice, but years ago. Not by girlfriends, either. You are my first girlfriend." Naruto reached over to take her hand, intertwining her fingers with his. "Now, first, just relax. Kissing will come much more natural to you that way. Take a deep breath. I know it feels silly doing this, but it'll help a bit at least."

Hinata nodded, then closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths to relax her pounding heart and her out-of-control mind. She couldn't react like this every time he touched or kissed her, or else she'd never learn to kiss properly.

"I-I'm ready," she announced a few minutes later, opening her eyes again. Naruto still had a hold of her hand, but she had calmed down some.

"Alright. Now, for the actual kissing. It's really hard to tell you what to do when it comes to that, since mostly you'll get it with actual practice. Let me try leading." Naruto then brought his lips to hers once again. At first, she didn't react, just tried to get used to the movement of his lips. Then, when she felt a bit more confident, she slowly moved her lips against his, trying to copy what he was doing.

_Girl, your dreams just came true..._ she thought to herself as they kissed slowly. She soon became used to the sensations and found herself feeling less awkward the more the kiss went on.

She wasn't sure how long the kiss lasted, but when they broke apart again, they were both breathing hard.

"Wow..." Naruto's eyes were sparkling. "I never thought I would get to do that."

Hinata grinned shyly, still feeling shaky from everything that had just happened. "M-me either."

"See, you're getting better at kissing already" Naruto smiled at her for reassurance. "I'm so glad you agreed to be my girlfriend."

Hinata just nodded, unable to stop smiling.

"What do you want to do now?" Naruto asked, releasing her hand to stretch his arms over his head.

"Um...I-I don't know..." Hinata knew that they were supposed to go on dates and do normal couple things, but she was still worried about her father. "Um, I will have to tell my father about this...soon."

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, it would be hard for us to date if you're worried about what he'll say. But whenever you tell him, I will come with you."

"Y-yes, that would be best. T-to show him what you are really like. I don't know w-what he will say." Hinata was worried that if Naruto came with her when she revealed to her father that she had a boyfriend, Hiashi would get angry and yell at Naruto too.

For the next two hours, they hung out in his bedroom, cuddled, watched TV, and kissed some more. Hinata was on cloud nine by the time she left. When they were in the lobby saying their goodbyes, he wrapped her in a hug and kissed her deeply. There was no one around, but Hinata had a feeling he would have kept on kissing her if someone did come along.

Sadly, he did pull apart from her, and she gave his hand one last squeeze before reluctantly turning and walking away, her mind whirling with the events of the day.

She stepped outside and got into her car, driving home on autopilot, as she did when her mind was in disarray. Naruto was her boyfriend now. It was January twelfth, so she would mark that as their anniversary date. They hadn't had sex yet, but Naruto explained that it was too soon, and he didn't want to move too intensely just starting out. Hinata agreed, and told him she would be ready any time he was. She also learned that he was a virgin, too, which was rare for a guy at twenty years old.

He had told her that girls just didn't see him as more than a friend. He'd even tried hooking up, or going on online dating sites, but that had failed. So Hinata was thrilled to be his first official girlfriend, and his first time having sex.

She thought about the ways she could bring her new relationship status up with her father. _"I'm in a relationship with this guy...he treats me very well and I am twenty years old, I don't need protecting...let me learn my own way..."_

But she wasn't sure when she should tell Hiashi. Should she tell him sooner? Later? Maybe after her and Naruto were more stable, and had been together longer, so she could prove to him that Naruto really was a good guy?

_Yeah, I'll wait until it's been a few months at least... _she thought to herself as she pulled in the driveway of her father's mansion. Naruto didn't know her family had money from all the businesses Hiashi owned. But she would tell him, eventually. She just didn't want to let her family's money be the main thing that defined her. Although she was sure that Naruto wasn't that shallow and wouldn't date her just for her money.

On entering her house, she greeted her father, telling him she hadn't bought anything (because she didn't carry bags so she didn't want him to get suspicious about if she went to the mall or not) and went up to her bedroom to text Naruto. But then, when she pulled out her phone from her jeans pocket, she saw she already had a text from him.

The thing was, if she waited a few months to tell her father, how could she keep lying to him for that long? He knew she wasn't very social, so if she suddenly started going out every other day, he would get suspicious. She'd probably have to keep her visits with Naruto down to a weekly basis, that wouldn't be so bad.

She discussed this with Naruto, and he agreed with her plans. They decided to make most of their meetings on random days during the week. Hinata figured if they made it for just a certain day each week, Hiashi would grow suspicious for sure.

Hinata hated having such an overbearing father. He was a good guy, when he wanted to be. Just that she wanted him to trust her. She knew that lying to him about Naruto wouldn't help the trust issue. But she hoped he understood.

She went to grab her bucket list notepad again, and crossed off one more thing.

_2015 Bucket List_

_\- Get a real job, no matter if Father thinks I am a good fit or not.  
\- Earn my blue belt in Ninjutsu.  
\- Travel to more faraway places.  
\- Go to more parties and hang out with my friends despite what Father says.  
\- Lose my virginity, but not just on a one night stand. With someone special of course.  
\- Prove to Father that I can take care of myself, I am twenty years old after all.  
\- Get more hobbies such as writing, reading, or some hands-on hobby.  
\- Go swimming at a beach and wear a bikini for the first time.  
\- Get a cute, simple butterfly tattoo on my upper right shoulderblade.  
\- If Hanabi's behaviour gets out of control, I need to tell Father no matter what he will accuse me of. He can't be blind to her forever. Besides, she might need help. It's for her own good.  
\- **Ask Naruto to hang out with me.**__(HE AGREED!)  
\- **Kiss Naruto**__ (and maybe lose my virginity to him too – but I can't think too far)._

She didn't cross out the "maybe lose my virginity to him" part, because it hadn't happened yet, though she knew it would happen. Hopefully in the next few weeks.

She also added something new to the list:

_\- Tell my father about mine and Naruto's relationship._

She couldn't believe how well everything had gone in the past few days. Naruto was now officially her boyfriend, on January twelfth, 2015. She would remember this day forever.

And, to ensure she really did remember this day forever, she wrote a little journal about it in the same notepad as her bucket list.

* * *

**Naruto's POV**

Naruto felt like he was floating around his apartment the rest of the day. He felt giddy and high, as if he was a teenager who'd just gone on their first date and just been kissed for the first time. Hinata was amazing. He'd learned so much about her in the few hours they'd been together, and they did have stuff in common. It felt great to be needed and wanted by someone, to be official with someone.

He texted his best friend, Sasuke.

**Naruto: Guess what, teme?**

** Sasuke: What? Your apartment caught fire? You got chased down the road by an alien? **

** Naruto: You're so funny. No, asshole, I got a girlfriend!**

** Sasuke: I crack myself up sometimes. Is she blind?**

Naruto rolled his eyes. Sasuke really could be a jerk. But he knew that Sasuke had his own way of showing he was happy for his friend. Naruto ignored Sasuke's comments and told him about Hinata.

**Naruto: You remember the girl I've told you about, Hinata?**

** Sasuke: That girl in your ninjutsu class that you've been drooling over ever since I stole Sakura from you?**

** Naruto: You didn't steal Sakura from me. She won you over. Anyway, I was over Sakura then. I was already eyeing Hinata for a while, and then today we hung out and I asked her out, and she said yes. **

** Sasuke: Good for you, dobe. Now you can go on double dates with Sakura and I. **

** Naruto: Thanks, teme. I'll run that idea by Hinata. **

** Sasuke: Did you fuck her?**

** Naruto: Omg, Sasuke, you only think with your dick, I swear. No. Not yet anyway. I'm going to wait, unlike you. It didn't take you long to fuck Sakura, did it?**

** Sasuke: The same day I agreed to be her boyfriend. But at least now you have a chance to lose your virginity and I won't have to listen to you complaining about the fact that you're the only virgin left among our group of friends.**

** Naruto: I'm not using Hinata for that, you know. I genuinely like her, a lot. We have a lot in common and she's fucking hot. But yes, sex is the perks of a relationship. **

** Sasuke: You don't have to be in a relationship to have sex.**

** Naruto: I know. Remember how many one night stands I tried to have, but they failed because the girl either passed out beforehand or changed her mind at the last minute?**

** Sasuke: Yup. I remember. I almost felt bad for you. **

** Naruto: You're so sympathetic. I don't know how Sakura puts up with your asshole tendencies. **

** Sasuke: Hey now. I can be nice – sometimes. Anyway, gotta go, The Queen is calling. I'm sure she wants to hang out, or something. Later dobe and congrats. **

** Naruto: Have fun and thanks teme.**

Naruto couldn't help but grin at Sasuke's comments. He could be blunt, and a jerk, but it was mostly an act. He knew that Sakura had fallen for Sasuke because she could see the nice guy inside of him, and she brought it out. Sasuke was a different person when around Sakura, and Naruto could see how much he cared for her, even if he didn't openly act like it.

Sasuke had been dating Sakura for six months now, and since then was when Naruto was able to really shake his crush on Sakura and notice for real how awesome Hinata was. He had to admit, he'd liked her for quite a while, although he hadn't let it show. But Naruto would love for Hinata to meet his two closest friends, so he texted Hinata asking if she wanted to go on a double date next time, and she agreed.

They made plans to hang out the coming Friday, since today was Monday. Naruto would text Sasuke and ask if that was good for him, but if him and Sakura couldn't make it, he'd still see Hinata.

He spent the rest of the afternoon doing his usual things, as well as texting Hinata about their plans and what they would like to be doing with or to each other right now.

* * *

**Hinata's POV**

Hinata couldn't stop grinning, especially whenever Naruto sent her a text. He was adorable, and she wished she had made the effort to hang out with him sooner.

While she was alone in her room that evening, she read over her bucket list and tried to think of the things that were doable right now. Obviously, she had gotten a kiss from Naruto. _More than one kiss...and more to come..._ she thought, another smile breaking out on her face. The first thing on her list was to get a real job. That, she would have to actively start searching for. She decided to try and get away from the family businesses so that she could be more independent and not have to worry about her father replacing her because he felt she was too inadequate.

Earning her blue belt in Ninjutsu would have to come after she'd earned her green belt, which was the next belt on the list. So that might take a bit, but it was still a goal she could work towards.

Traveling was possible, since her family had a lot of money, she'd have to see about planning a trip somewhere. Her father would surely let her travel as it could be an educational experience – so long as the point of the traveling wasn't to just go partying every night during the trip.

Hanging out with her friends was something that she would have to try and convince her father to let her do. She was twenty years old, everyone else was out having fun, why couldn't she? She wasn't going to be irresponsible, and Hiashi just had to trust her.

She blushed as she read the next one. Losing her virginity. At first, that hadn't seemed like a likely goal she could accomplish anytime soon. Now, though, it was only a matter of time.

Proving to her father she could be independent and responsible would again take some time. She wanted to get a job and move out on her own.

As for hobbies, other than martial arts, she didn't do too much. She read some, but not much for hands-on things. She really wanted to learn to paint.

Going swimming would have to wait until summer, obviously.

Getting the tattoo would definitely have to be done in secret, or not until she moved out, because Hiashi would never approve of such a thing.

Helping her sister if she got into too much trouble – well, time would tell. Hinata did want to help her sister. But she wanted her father to take her seriously when it came to getting help for Hanabi.

Hinata decided to start two of those things as soon as possible – start applying for jobs, and begin to learn how to paint.

She needed to do something other than sitting around and moping as she did most of the time she wasn't out, or in school, or at ninjutsu.

Her schedule in college was fairly easy. They were three day weeks, and the classes were six, eight, and twelve hours long. The first year had been brutal, and even now the twelve hour class was hard, but at least she only had class for three days a week. She'd asked Naruto what his work schedule was like, and he told her he had three days off, and worked four days that were also twelve hours long for each shift.

Sometimes their schedules clashed, and Hinata realized there would be gaps in which they wouldn't be able to talk to each other for several hours at a time. But they would still be able to talk everyday. His shifts ran from nine AM to nine PM, while Hinata's twelve hour long class was the same so they still had a few hours to talk before bed, and could sneak texts in during breaks. Hinata's classes were from Tuesday to Thursday, and Naruto worked on Saturdays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. At least they would be able to spend one day a week together, and if her father wasn't so strict, they could have spent more time together.

Hinata was looking forward to this new journey with Naruto, and wondered what kind of exciting adventures they would have together as a couple.

* * *

**Astrocam: Seeing as Hinata's already got the two main things crossed off her list, she's determined to follow through with the whole list. Even if it may get her in trouble with her father. She's already worried about his reaction to her dating Naruto. But at least, having Naruto by her side will help her overcome her fear of her father and follow her dreams. Right?  
**

**Hope you enjoyed. :) **


	4. Let's Do this

**Astrocam: Wow, hey guys, so thanks for all the positive reviews, follows and faves :3 I'm glad you guys seem to be enjoying the story so far, remember it's been years since I've attempted writing a decent-length fanfiction. My last one was a Gaa/Hina story a couple of years ago, I think. I'm not sure how long this one is gonna go for, or what's going to happen, I'll find out as I go with you guys :P that's how I write. And then if I see any plot holes or mistakes later, I'll go back and fix them.  
**

**I hope you enjoy this chapter...but you might kill me for the cliffhanger :P **

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**Chapter Four – Let's Do This**

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**Hinata's POV**

Hinata, Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura went out on a double date the following Friday. Hinata hadn't seen Naruto since Monday, the day he'd asked her to be his girlfriend. Their martial art's class was on Sundays. But, they had talked everyday that they could (in between classes and work, and after work/class). Now, Hinata was starting to feel nervous again as she got ready for their double date. What would Naruto's friends be like? Would they like her, or judge her? Would they think she was snobby if she didn't speak up much, since she was normally quiet? Would they think she was weird? She didn't know what Naruto had told them about her, but she would probably find out.

She was going to drive to meet them at the restaurant, since she didn't want Naruto to pick her up, due to her father finding out, of course. She had told her father that she was going to her friend Tenten's for a study date, since they went to the same school, although they were in different programs. But Hinata explained to her father that studying with someone whether in a different program or not could still help if she was stuck on something. Her father agreed to that, and Hinata felt bad for lying to him. Tenten would vouch for her though, should Hiashi think to ask.

Neji had found out about Naruto too, but promised Hinata that he wouldn't tell Hiashi, and so far he hadn't. Hinata liked to think that Neji cared more about her than he let on, and he knew how strict Hiashi was with her, so he wanted to let her have some fun.

However, Hanabi didn't know, because Hinata just didn't trust her younger sister not to blab. She blabbed about everything.

Now, Hinata was in her bedroom getting ready, when suddenly she heard a bang and muffled yelling coming from downstairs. Since the mansion was so big, she couldn't hear it clearly, so she got up from her vanity and left her room to see if she could hear what was happening. The voices became clearer the closer she got to the stairs.

"Hanabi, what in God's name are you doing?!"

"Father, I told you, I am going out with my friends!"

"Not dressed like that you're not!" More banging could be heard, and Hinata guessed that it was her father possibly hitting his fists on the countertop in the kitchen, as he did sometimes when he was really upset. "By the way, I know what you've been up to," he added in a menacing voice. "I found those condoms in your purse."

"Father! How dare you go through my things!" Hanabi yelled, and Hinata could hear her younger sister starting to cry. She almost felt bad for her – almost. But she deserved it.

"I didn't go through it. I picked up your purse off the counter and they fell out because the purse was open. Also, there were cigarettes and small bags of what looks like cocaine and marijuana. What the hell are you thinking?! I thought I could trust you to go to these parties and not act like a little slut!"

"Everyone else is doing it! It doesn't hurt!" Hanabi was sobbing now. "You never let us do anything fun!"

"No, I never let you do anything stupid or irresponsible!" Hiashi yelled back. "Now call your friends and tell them you're not going, you are grounded for life."

Hinata cringed. She feared that this was the kind of thing that would happen if her father found out about Naruto, or if he confronted Naruto in person. Although Hanabi's behavior was, unquestionably, out of control with the drugs, sex, and drinking, Hiashi still did not want his daughters dating until they were mature enough to find someone suitable to marry. So even just dating someone now, like Hinata was before she was "ready" in his eyes, could cause him to lose it. It was one of those behaviors he considered "stupid" and "irresponsible".

She heard fast-moving footsteps as Hanabi ran off, sobbing, then heard her father sigh loudly, obviously exasperated. Hinata returned to her room to finish getting ready, hoping her father would calm down by the time she was going to leave.

Once Hinata was ready to go, she picked up her phone and saw that Naruto had texted her.

**Naruto: Hey, so I'm heading to the restaurant now. We'll meet you there. Can't wait to see you, xoxo**

Hinata smiled, blushing at his statement that he couldn't wait to see her. She wrote him back.

**Hinata: I'll be there soon, I can't wait to see you either. Xoxox By the way, are we doing anything afterwards? Just so I can tell my father if I will be out later, with "Tenten".**

** Naruto: Well, if you'd like to come to my apartment for a bit ;)**

** Hinata: Yes, we can do that ;) I'll let him know then.**

Finally, Hinata was in her car on the way to the restaurant. Her father had permitted her to stay out until eleven PM, it was six PM already. So if the dinner took about two hours, she could spend another three hours with Naruto at his apartment.

She arrived at the restaurant on time, and saw that Naruto was waiting outside for her. He looked handsome as ever, with his black and grey jacket and dark blue jeans. Hinata loved that jacket on him. She'd seen him wearing it after their martial arts class.

She found a parking spot, then got out of her car and began walking towards him. He'd already seen her car pull up, so he turned, smiled and waved to greet her.

"Hina-chan!" he grinned, pulling her into his arms for a hug and a chaste kiss.

Hinata's mind was already swimming. She wasn't sure if she could last through the dinner without blushing or coming close to fainting. "N-Naruto-kun," she squeaked as she kissed him back, wrapping her arms around his waist.

"Sasuke and Sakura are inside, saving our seats for us. I told them I would stand out here to wait for you." Naruto kissed her one last time before taking her hand and leading her into the restaurant.

"Man, I love having you as my girlfriend," Naruto commented as they stepped inside the restaurant. "We've only hung out twice as boyfriend and girlfriend, but I love it."

"M-me, too," Hinata agreed, then she realized what she'd said and blushed. "I-I mean, having you as m-my boyfriend."

He chuckled, squeezing her hand. "Sakura and Sasuke are over there." He gestured towards a booth near the back, where Hinata saw a male with black hair and a female with...was that pink?...hair sitting on the same side of the booth together. "Yes, Sakura-chan has pink hair," Naruto explained, as if he could sense her surprise. "It's natural, even she's not sure why or how, except that her mother has it." He shrugged. "You'll get used to it. Also, if you notice Sasuke being an asshole towards me, he's just like that. He'll be nice to you, though."

Hinata nodded, grateful he had warned her about his friends, and explained Sakura's hair to her, so that she wouldn't have to stare at the poor girl, or be intimidated if Sasuke was a "jerk", as Naruto had put it.

They headed towards Naruto's friends, still hand in hand. Hinata loved the feeling of his hand in hers, it fit perfectly, as though they were meant to be together.

_Don't kid yourself, you've only been dating for five days,_ her reasonable thoughts came up, and she had to agree. She'd already fallen for Naruto long ago, but now that they were a couple, she couldn't fall head-over-heels for him until she knew for sure they would be together for a while at least.

Once they reached the booth, Sasuke and Sakura looked up to see them.

"Hey!" Sakura chirped, giving Hinata a wide smile. "You must be Hinata. Nice to finally meet you. Naruto's been blabbering on and on about you -" Sasuke nudged her with his elbow, and she glared at him. "What? It's true."

Hinata just blushed and smiled back. "N-nice to meet you, too. I'm Hyuuga Hinata."

Sasuke's eyes widened at that. "Wait. Hyuuga? Your father wouldn't happen to be Hiashi, would he?"

Hinata nodded, nervous now. How did Sasuke know about her family's businesses? "Y-yes, that's him." Hiashi never advertised himself publicly as a CEO, and none of his businesses had the name "Hyuuga" attached to them.

"Wow...my father used to do business with him. Before...before...never mind." Sasuke shrugged. "Not a big deal. Just cool." Sasuke cast his eyes down to the table, and Hinata noticed Sakura rub his arm, as if something was going on between them that she didn't get.

Hinata and Naruto slid into the booth opposite Sasuke and Sakura, but Hinata could feel Naruto's surprise. She hadn't told him this, yet, and had hoped to keep it on the down low for a bit.

"You never told me your father was a CEO..." Naruto said quietly.

"I-I didn't want you to think of me or my family as having money, I didn't want it to define me," Hinata explained hurriedly, wanting to get off the subject.

Naruto nodded, but the look on his face said "we'll talk later".

They made casual talk through the rest of the dinner, and Hinata realized she liked Sasuke and Sakura. They seemed to enjoy her company as well, the four of them got along fine. It wasn't awkward or hard to find something to talk about. Hinata felt like she could fit in with them easily enough.

Afterwards, they said their goodbyes, and parted ways. Hinata hoped that she would get to hang out with Naruto and his friends again but now she really wanted to spend time alone, with Naruto.

They got into their separate cars and drove to his place, then headed up the elevator. It seemed like there wasn't too many people around, no one else was in the elevator with them and she hadn't seen anyone in the lobby. Probably most people were out on a Friday night.

"So, your father is Hyuuga Hiashi..." Naruto trailed off. "That explains why you have a car that most people our age couldn't afford. I never said anything cause I didn't want to be rude."

"Yes, so?" Hinata shrugged. "I live in a mansion. I drive a nice car. But it's like a fucking prison," she swore for the first time in front of Naruto, and he just blinked at her for a minute, but didn't ask her anymore questions until they were safely in his apartment.

"Why is it like a prison?" he continued their conversation when they were comfortably cuddling on his bed.

"He doesn't let me do anything. I told you he is very strict with who I date. He's told me I can't 'date' anyone unless I am ready and looking for a guy for marriage. Just dating around like I am with you is forbidden. It's not quite an arranged marriage, since I can marry who I want. Just that father has to approve, and I'm supposed to be dating for marriage only, not just to have fun. At least, according to him." Hinata found that when she was upset, she could speak clearly around Naruto and not stutter.

Naruto sighed, stroking her hair. "So basically, since I am not ready for marriage, he will disapprove of me and probably forbid you from seeing me."

Hinata nodded sadly. "Yes. That's why I can't tell him, not yet."

"Well, I know it's too soon for us to even think about getting married right now. We've already known each other for a year as friends, but romantically, just five days. But...I will try my hardest to make this relationship work, and then who knows?"

Hinata blinked up at him. "Y-you'd consider marriage with me?"

"Well, of course we have to be ready, financially and emotionally, but yes." Naruto gave her a small smile. "I don't care that we are young. We just have to take it easy with our relationship, and see where it goes. Don't feel rushed to tell your father. I understand now."

Hinata sighed with relief. "Thank you, Naruto-kun."

"Besides, isn't the point of dating to see if the person is possible marriage material or not?" Naruto pointed out.

"True. I-I haven't dated anyone before you, but I'd gladly let you be my f-first and last." Hinata blushed when she said this.

Naruto put two fingers under her chin and lifted her head up so that she was staring into his eyes. "I don't care how much money you have. I've liked you for quite a while now, so money obviously has nothing to do with it. I just never showed it, and I was too chicken to ask you to hang out outside of class. I probably would have done it eventually, but I was surprised when you did it first."

Hinata grinned at this. So he'd liked her for a while? That was the first time he'd told her that. "R-really?"

"Yes. You're beautiful, smart, funny, cute, sweet, and have a lot in common with me. I still can't believe you're my girlfriend." With that, he closed the gap between their lips and kissed her, this time more passionately than he had outside the restaurant.

Hinata sank into the kiss, pouring all her emotions into it. She lifted her hands and gripped them in his hair, feeling his soft, blond locks intertwine with her fingers. He glided his hands up and down her back, and at one point put both hands on her bottom and squeezed it a few times.

"Oh..." Hinata moaned into his mouth. She hadn't been touched like that before, and realized she liked it. A lot.

He broke apart from her. "Y-you like that?" he gasped, breathless.

She nodded, and he squeezed her again, pressing her body against his. She felt his erection poking into her stomach and realized he was turned on.

"Wow...you're beautiful," he breathed, kissing her lightly. "It's so hard not to fuck you right now."

_Oh, please do!_ Her dirty thoughts came forward full force, and she was feeling the churning inside of her that she hadn't felt before. She wanted to feel his hands on her bare skin. Wanted to feel him inside of her.

"Please..." she panted, realizing that she needed this.

He eyed her. "Please what?"

"F-fuck me!" she moaned, spreading her legs so that they were on either side of him and pressing herself against his erection, rubbing back and forth on him, dry humping him.

"Oh my God...I don't...have a condom...fuck!" Naruto again pressed her against him, moving so that he was thrusting under her.

Hinata stopped moving on top of him. "C-can you go get one? Is there a store near here?" Her heart was pounding. She wanted this, needed this desperately. It had been too long.

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, there's a store down the block. I'm going to go fucking get one right now." He helped her off of him so that they were sitting up facing each other, and he kissed her passionately again, this time letting his tongue sweep across her bottom lip, asking for entrance. She opened her mouth and his tongue met hers.

After a moment, he broke the kiss and stood up. "Fucking hell, you are too fucking hot. I will be right back, as fast as I can." With that, he turned and left the room, leaving Hinata in desperate need to feel his touch again.

They were really going to do this. He was going to make her other big wish come true – lose her virginity to him. She had never imagine this would happen and right now, she felt like she was floating.

* * *

**Naruto's POV**

Naruto practically ran to the store and was there in under a minute. He grabbed a box of condoms, paid for it, then left. He was finally going to lose his virginity, and it was to a girl who was his girlfriend, no less. None of that "hooking up to lose my virginity" crap anymore. He was glad it hadn't worked out with those other girls. Now him and Hinata could both experience their first time together. He was determined to make it special for her. A time that she would remember and treasure, not a time that she would regret.

Naruto himself knew that if he'd had sex with one of those girls he'd tried to hook up with, he would likely be regretting it right now. He was glad that his first time was going to be with Hinata, not some hooker or slut.

By the time he got back into his apartment, he very quickly took his outdoor gear off, leaving everything on the floor as he dashed to his bedroom, where he found Hinata laying on her back under the covers. But something was off about her.

She blinked up at him innocently. "What are you l-looking at?" she murmured, a hint of mischievousness in her voice.

Naruto sat on the edge of his bed, then slowly pulled back the covers to just above her breasts. He realized that she was no longer wearing a top. "Um...where are your clothes?" he looked around, not seeing any clothes discarded on the floor.

"Behind your bed," she grinned, her face turning red again. "I-I thought I would surprise you."

He grinned back at her, his heart beating faster as he what he was about to do hit him full force. "I am surprised. I, um, got the condoms." He held up the bag. Then his smile faded the longer he gazed at her. She looked so innocent, so adorable. He wanted to make her first time special, but he was beginning to doubt himself. Was he going to be good enough for her? Did she want to do it with someone more experienced first?

_Obviously she wants to do it with you, idiot, she's fucking naked. Now get to fucking!_ His thoughts chastised him.

"W-what's wrong, Naruto-kun?" Hinata had picked up on his mood change.

"Nothing. Just...are you sure you want it to be with me?" he asked cautiously.

She nodded. "More than anything."

Her answer helped him feel a bit better. "Alright. Let's do this."

With that, he leaned over her and kissed her passionately, feeling more than ready for this special time to be one with her.

* * *

**Astrocam: Hehe, sorry. Don't worry, I'm not going to tease you and then do a "fade into black" scene. Next chapter will be what you've been waiting for ;) **


	5. For the First Time

**Astrocam: Again, thanks for the reviews, faves and follows :) glad most of you seem to be enjoying it so far, even though there's a couple mistakes. Like I said, always room for change. I'm up for criticism but if you're going to say "omg this sucks" then don't do that. Flames suck.**

**Also, I was a bit late with this update because I was unsure about writing the sex scene. I mean, I was going to write it obviously, just hoped that I could do it to please people. Remember, two virgins having sex for the first time is bound to be awkward. I have not had sex with a virgin (yet...) but from losing my own virginity, I can imagine that if both were virgins, they would do a lot of foreplay in order to get used to each other's bodies and the male to try and make it less painful for the female. Remember, everyone's sexual experiences are different. I tried to make this one at least sort of realistic for two virgins.**

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**Chapter Five – For the First Time**

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**Hinata's POV**

She was really nervous. After all, having a boy see her completely naked for the first time was nerve-wracking, along with the first-time sex itself, of course. While Naruto kissed her, he slowly peeled back the covers to expose her pale skin.

"Wow," he breathed when he pulled the covers down off her breasts. He sat up, Hinata guessed to admire them, and gently placed both his hands on top of them, massaging them lightly. She moaned a little, closing her eyes and letting him play with her.

After a minute, he removed his hands, and Hinata suddenly felt his lips on one of her nipples. She opened her eyes, then gazed down at him, watching as he sucked on her nipples. The sensation was amazing. Each time his tongue flicked across her nipple sent goosebumps over her, and she could feel that she was getting more turned on with each passing second. While he sucked on one of her nipples, he massaged the other breast with his free hand.

The more he did this, the more at ease she felt with him seeing her naked, and touching her body. She felt the sensations building up inside of her, and it caused her to moan and whimper with each touch.

He then lifted his mouth from her breast to pull the covers down even further and kiss her on her stomach, trailing his tongue along her skin. The covers came down until finally, he stopped just past her sex. She kept her legs together, so he didn't see between them yet. Just the top of her.

"I suppose I should get undressed, eh?" he grinned, and Hinata could tell he was nervous because she felt him shaking. He stood up off the bed and reached for the hem of his shirt, pulling it up over his head. Hinata wanted to faint – he looked so good half-naked, even while still wearing his jeans. He had nice abs, although not too muscly, but just right. She wished he could wear those jeans while fucking her, but alas, he took them off as well, but kept his boxers on. He was still hot, though.

"You ready?" Naruto asked, his voice seeming to shake as he crawled back on top of her.

Hinata nodded slowly, still struck by how attractive Naruto was, and how she was really lucky to have her be his first, and to be his first.

He brushed a hand over her face. "You know, sex for the first time does hurt. Not that I know, just some tips I got from talking to Sasuke about it...um, anyway," he grinned when he realized how awkward that sounded. "It hurts the female, because she is so tight and to have something enter her suddenly like that, it'll hurt a lot. So I'm going to try and make it less painful for you, and build up to this."

"H-how so?" Hinata squeaked.

"We'll start with my tongue." Naruto stuck his tongue out and licked her lips playfully, causing her to squeal. They laughed before he continued to talk. "It might sound gross or weird, but don't worry, apparently it feels good. Sasuke said that Sakura goes crazy when he does it to her. Why the fuck am I saying this?" Naruto shook his head but smiled again. "Sorry. Anyway...want to get started?"

Hinata nodded eagerly. "Y-yes, please."

He kissed her on her mouth again before trailing kisses down her body, towards her sex. Hinata gripped the sides of the bed nervously as Naruto put his hands on her legs and pushed them apart, revealing her to him.

"Alright, here goes," he grinned, then dipped his head down, his tongue touching her clit, causing her to cry out. He continued to lick her there, then worked his tongue downward, finally pushing his tongue inside of her. It didn't hurt of course, because it was only his soft tongue. But man, it made her feel so good.

She moaned loudly, arching her back as he licked faster, placing his hands on either side of her hips to pull her closer, pushing himself deeper in her, as deep as his tongue would go. Hinata could feel the stirring within her intensify. But nothing happened to her, that she could tell. She didn't orgasm yet.

He then took his mouth off of her, wiping his lips with the back of his hand. "I think you're ready for my fingers." Without waiting for her approval, he placed his hand on her sex, his fingers brushing against her clit.

Naruto pushed one finger slowly inside of her, and she winced from the slight pain. But the longer he moved his finger around inside of her, the more comfortable and used to this feeling she became. It was still a bit painful, but she was beginning to feel more pleasure. At one point, he even moved it up and down very fast, causing her to feel the build up again. But she still didn't release.

"No orgasm?" Naruto panted after pulling his finger out.

Hinata shook her head. "N-no. It feels amazing though," she murmured shyly.

"It's alright, don't worry. Might take you a bit to orgasm, maybe you will once your body gets used to sex and the feelings and all that. Every girl is different, or so I've read." Naruto shrugged. "Want to try two fingers?"

"Yes, I'm ready." Hinata wanted to orgasm, but was unsure why it wasn't happening for her.

Naruto repeated the fingering, but this time with two fingers. He did it for a good few minutes straight, and for Hinata the pain was lessening, but she still didn't orgasm.

"Well, are you ready for me to go inside of you? I'm more than ready." Naruto gestured to his boxers, which were strained from his erection.

Hinata giggled. "Yes."

She had a thought as Naruto pulled his boxers off of him, freeing his erection. She'd wished for a kiss on her bucket list – and now she was getting the whole package.

* * *

**Naruto's POV**

Naruto was nervous as he pulled his boxers off, revealing himself to Hinata for the first time. He hadn't been completely naked in front of a girl before, the closest he had been was shirts being taken off before the drunk girls passed out or threw up, or just rejected him completely.

Now, he was about to take the full step. Losing his virginity to this amazing girl who liked him for who he was.

He rolled a condom over himself and positioned himself over top of her, his hands supporting himself on either side of her. He gazed into her beautiful lavender eyes and she reached her hand down to guide him towards her entrance.

"I hope you won't regret this," he whispered, kissing her on the lips.

"No, I won't," she assured him with a shy smile. "I-I want it to be you, Naruto-kun."

With that, Naruto pushed himself inside her tight entrance, very slowly so that only his tip was inside, then he stopped. She was gasping, but Naruto couldn't tell if it was from pain or pleasure. "You ok? I don't want to hurt you..." he asked her, concerned.

"I-I'm fine," she told him after a minute. "Keep going."

She clutched his back, digging her fingernails into his skin the deeper he went into her. Naruto himself was feeling amazing. She was so tight, so warm and wet around him. He could feel her clenching around him, and he groaned, collapsing onto her as he pushed even farther into her. Finally, he was all the way in and he stayed like that for a moment so her body could get used to him. Meanwhile, he massaged her breasts, licking and sucking them to make her feel good.

"F-fuck..." she gasped, clawing at his back. "This is amazing!"

"I know right," he grinned, licking at her nipples. He began thrusting slowly, in and out, feeling Hinata shaking and quivering beneath him the more he picked up speed. She wrapped her legs around his waist, which lifted her up to give him a better angle and go in even deeper as he pounded into her.

It didn't take him long to finish.

"Ahh! Fuck! Hinata!" He cried out her name as he emptied himself into the condom while pushing into her one last time.

She gasped loudly. "Naruto-kun! I'm coming!"

After a minute, he was still inside her, although his erection was going back down to normal. He pulled himself out of her and saw her wince.

"Wow..." she gasped, licking her lips. "My mouth feels dry."

"I'll get you some water." Naruto kissed her before shakily standing up and removing the condom, then tossed it in his garbage can and left his room, heading to the bathroom, his mind reeling with everything that had just happened.

He'd just made loved to the girl he'd wanted to be with for the past six months now. It had been the most beautiful moments of his life, and he couldn't wait to fuck her again.

But the giddy high he was on was shattered when he heard her footsteps running towards him. He turned and saw her still naked, but carrying her clothes.

"Shit! It's past eleven, my dad is going to flip!" she exclaimed, pausing to put on her underwear and bra.

"Oh, fuck." Naruto rushed back to his bedroom to get dressed, then joined Hinata when they were both fully dressed. Hinata had already started to get her jacket on, and Naruto stood waiting for her to be ready to leave.

"I had an amazing time Naruto-kun," she grinned, throwing her arms around him and kissing him one last time. "I can't wait to see you again."

Naruto was worried about her, though. "What will your father say? Will you get in trouble?"

"I'll tell him that me and Tenten lost track of time. He'll be mad but he'll calm down. It's okay." Hinata assured him, but Naruto could tell by the look in her eyes that it wasn't going to be as simple as that. "I have to go, though." Again, she kissed and hugged him before heading out the door and shutting it behind her.

Naruto felt oddly empty. Like he'd fucked her and she'd just left, without cuddling afterwards or anything. It almost felt like a one night stand, though he knew it wasn't like that. He knew Hinata liked him, and would have wanted to stay longer, had her stupid father not ruined things.

He knew he'd have to come face-to-face with her father at some point. He just hoped that Hiashi wouldn't try to chop his balls off.

He went back into his lonely bedroom and waited for a text from Hinata, so she could let him know that she was ok and Hiashi wasn't too harsh with her. His bed felt even more empty now that she'd just been in it moments ago, and now she was gone. He hoped that one day maybe she could stay the night.

* * *

**Hinata's POV**

"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN? It's past eleven-thirty!" Hiashi roared the second Hinata walked in the door.

"F-father, Tenten just lost track of time!" Hinata blurted, wanting this to be over with as soon as possible. All her thoughts were still on Naruto, and she felt bad for just leaving him like that, but what could she have done? Her father would have been extremely pissed and grounded her for life if she'd stayed out much later.

"Well, you need to be more responsible and watch the time. Seriously, it can't be that hard to look at a clock while you're studying!" Hiashi huffed. "What's worse is, your sister ran away from home tonight, and I couldn't get a hold of you. I had almost thought I had two incompetent runaway daughters tonight!"

Hinata blinked at this. "I-I'm sorry father, my phone was on silent the whole time so I wouldn't be distracted. When's the last time you saw Hanabi?"

"A few hours back." Hiashi sighed. "She left and she knows that she's grounded. Someone picked her up. I didn't see what type of vehicle it was, it was too dark. I yelled at her and tried to keep her from leaving but she just ran out the door."

"We need to find her then," Hinata decided. "Let me try to call her."

"Alright, I forgive you for being late this time. Next time, call me." Hiashi told her as if he wanted to get this over with. "Now we need to focus on finding Hanabi."

Hinata was glad her father let her off the hook. But her sister would be hard to find, especially if she didn't want to be found. "She may not want to be found," Hinata warned her father.

He nodded wearily. "Yes. Just call her. Maybe she'd answer you rather than me."

"I don't know, she barely speaks to me as it is." Hinata shrugged, but picked up her phone, and ignoring Naruto's text messages he'd sent her while she was on her way home, called her sister.

Surprisingly, Hanabi picked up.

"Hanabi, where are you? Father is worried," Hinata asked softly, trying not to upset her sister.

"I'm with a friend from school. Father is not worried. He just wants to keep me there like a fucking prisoner, like what he does with you!" Hanabi spat bitterly.

Hinata fought the urge to correct her sister. Hiashi let Hanabi do far more things than he let Hinata do, but she didn't say that. "He grounded you because he found weed and other drugs and a condom in your purse. That is NOT okay, Hanabi. Especially NOT for a fifteen year old. Do you know how many people get into drugs this early in life and never get out of it, only making their adult years hell? You're only doing this to be cool right now, but it's going to hit you in the ass later."

"Who are you to lecture me? You've never done anything fun, not even when you were my age, from what I could see. You're just a boring, selfish big sister who feels the need to boss me around like father does."

Hinata sighed. It would be impossible to reason with Hanabi. "Hanabi, just please come home. If you don't come home soon, you'll only make things worse for yourself."

"No. I'm tired of that fucking place. I'm old enough to make my own decisions!"

"You're fifteen, Hanabi. In case you forgot, that's a TEENAGER. Still below legal age to do many things. If you want father to lessen up on you, stop doing stupid shit like this!"

"And end up like you? No thanks."

"Well, if you're not going to come home, then at least call once or twice a day so father can know you're safe," Hinata suggested.

"I won't talk to him. I'll either call you or Neji."

"Fine. Goodnight." Hinata hung up the phone before her sister could say another word, and then turned to Hiashi to relay the message to him: Hanabi wasn't coming home. At least, not anytime soon. And, she didn't want to talk to her father.

"Where did I go wrong, Hinata?" Hiashi asked, in an unusual state of vulnerability as he leaned on the counter, obviously exasperated. "When my own daughter doesn't want to come home and won't speak to me."

Hinata was surprised. Hiashi never admitted to doing anything wrong. He always thought his way was the right way. At least that was the image he put up for himself. "Well, y-you are a bit strict. You won't even let us date, or go hang out like normal teenagers and young adults."

Hiashi nodded. "I do that just because I'm trying to protect you girls from getting hurt, but it's not working in Hanabi's case. I don't know who her boyfriend is, but it's obvious she has one. I let Hanabi do more things than you, I know this, and this is where it got me. A delinquent daughter who won't even speak to me."

Hinata didn't like where this was going. For a moment, she'd hoped he was having a change of heart, but now she feared the worst.

"From now on, if she comes home, I'm not going to let her out of my sight. Not until I know she is responsible, off the drugs and drinking, and dumps whatever current boyfriend she has. At least I know you aren't doing that stuff, right, Hinata? I could tell by the way you were speaking to Hanabi about how bad drugs are." Hiashi looked at her hopefully.

Nodding reluctantly, all Hinata could think about was how the hell she'd ever tell her father about Naruto. "I-I'm not doing that, father."

"Good. Now you'd best get to bed. We'll call Hanabi first thing tomorrow." Hiashi sighed, then turned and walked away from her without another word.

Upset about everything that had happened, Hinata rushed up to her room and immediately texted Naruto back. He'd sent her three texts since she'd left him.

**Naruto: Hey, I miss you already. Don't read this til you get home. **

** Naruto: Sex is awesome. Let's do it again. xoxox**

And then one just a few minutes ago.

**Naruto: I'm getting worried. You should have been home by now. You okay? Did your father punish you for being late? **

Hinata wrote back.

**Hinata: My sister, Hanabi, ran away from home. She's only 15, thinks that drugs and drinking and sex are the cool thing to do. She also thinks she's old enough to make her own "grown up" decisions in life. Because of this, my father is going to be even stricter on me, I can tell.**

** Naruto: Oh, no. Is Hanabi okay?**

** Hinata: I called her, she is at a friend's house, or so she said. She lies a lot, too, so it's hard to fully believe her most times. But this will only make it worse for me and you. Maybe we should just call this whole thing off. I don't want to drag you down with my family. **Hinata couldn't believe she was saying the words, but she felt like she couldn't bring Naruto into her family's drama.

**Naruto: No, don't say that, please. I want to be with you, and this to work out. I'm sure it will. We can just continue to see each other as we are.**

** Hinata: I don't think I can continue to lie to my father. I'm not very good at lying. I feel too guilty. And especially not after what's just happened with Hanabi. **

** Naruto: Let's tell him together then, soon.**

** Hinata: What?**

** Naruto: Yes. That way, if he disapproves, we'll have only been together a short time so it won't be as painful if we have to ...end things.**

** Hinata: It will still be painful, because I care for you a lot. **

** Naruto: Then we can still find someway to be together. I think we should think about telling your father soon, to get it off your conscience. **

** Hinata: I guess so. Maybe in the next week or two. If we're going to have to end things, I want to have at least a few more good memories with you.**

** Naruto: Don't say that. We'll figure this out, I promise. In the meantime, can't wait to see you at ninjutsu on Sunday. **

They continued to talk until Hinata fell asleep, with her phone in her hand.

* * *

**Astrocam: So, they had sex for the first time, Hinata's father got mad at her and now Hanabi has run away. Hinata has to figure out what she'll do with her and Naruto's relationship. Should she leave him and stand by her father's wishes, or stay by Naruto's side and be a "delinquent" like Hanabi? :P We'll see ;)  
**


	6. Missing Person

**Astrocam: Hey guys, sorry this update was later than normal. Been dealing with drama and stuff, you know, so wasn't really in a mood for it. But now I'm sort of feeling better, so hopefully updates will be more frequent again. Anyway, there is a lemon in this chapter, I know I'm not the best at writing them...but I try. Plus, some of the characters may be OOC, but when writing alternate universe fanfiction, they won't be perfectly in character all the time. I also just realized this whole chapter was written in Hinata's POV, lol oops, oh well. Guess I got caught up in it.**

**Hope you enjoy anyway.**

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**Chapter Six – Missing Person**

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**Hinata's POV**

It had been a week since Hanabi's last phone call, and before that she had only called a few times a week. Now it had been a month since she ran away. It was almost Valentine's Day. Hinata was really worried about her sister, and Hiashi was at his wits end. Hiashi didn't want to file a "missing person's" report yet, because he was afraid it would "tarnish" the family's reputation if everyone knew that they had a delinquent runaway daughter. Hinata kept urging him to file a missing person's report, and get the law involved, and she had a feeling he was caving in.

Meanwhile, her and Naruto had still managed to keep their relationship a secret, but the lying to her father was eating away at Hinata. She had noticed, however, that her father seemed to do the opposite of what he'd threatened – he seemed to ease up on Hinata. Letting her have a bit more freedom to when she wanted to go out. It was an improvement from before, when she had to ask him and inform him of every detail of what she was going to do. Now he just let her go if she said "I'm going out with a friend" and that would be that, no more questions asked.

Hinata wondered if Hanabi going missing made Hiashi think that if he kept his really strict rules up with Hinata, she would end up doing the same thing as Hanabi. At first he had threatened to tighten the rules, but Hinata guessed that he had done some thinking and changed his mind about that. She knew that she wouldn't be able to handle if her father didn't allow her anywhere at all, except for school and ninjutsu. That was basically how it had been before, but if he had made his rules more strict, she would have been forbidden from seeing any friends at all, not even Tenten.

One night, she was talking to her father in the kitchen just before she was due to go out with Naruto. It was the night before Valentine's Day.

"Father...please, consider the missing person's report. Hanabi may be in danger. Maybe she got in with the wrong crowd," Hinata pleaded for the hundredth time. "Neji agrees with me," she added. She'd had this talk with Neji, too. "If people think differently of our family because Hanabi's run away, let them. We need to bring her home safe. That's more important than our reputation."

Hiashi sighed, leaning with both his elbows on the counter, his head in his hands. It was a defeated posture that Hinata hadn't seen from him too often.

"Fine, fine. I will do it tomorrow," Hiashi finally gave in. "Hanabi is going to be in so much trouble when she gets home."

"Father...that is why she left in the first place," Hinata firmly told him. She found that she was suddenly able to stand up to him more, and she wasn't sure where her new courage was coming from. Maybe Naruto's confidence was rubbing off on her.

"I know! I'm a failure as a father!" Hiashi exclaimed, but before Hinata could say anything, he stormed off and she heard a door slam.

She stood there, in a bit of shock. Hiashi had never, EVER admitted his failures or wrongdoings. But now it gave her a bit more insight as to how he was feeling about Hanabi's disappearance. He felt that he couldn't do anything right. He felt that, if he let Hanabi have too much freedom, she would take advantage of that. But if he tightened his hold on her, she would rebel as she had.

Suddenly her phone buzzed in her pocket. The message was from Naruto, probably wondering where she was.

**Naruto: Hey, Hina-chan, it's about time that you got here and you're not here yet. Everything okay with Hanabi and Hiashi?**

** Hinata: I'm coming, I'm coming. I was just talking with father about Hanabi, sorry. You know we've not heard from her in a week. **

** Naruto: Yeah, I know. I'm real sorry, I wish I could help your family in some way, but your father doesn't know about me and if he does it might make the situation worse.**

** Hinata: Well, I had an idea. I could introduce you to father as a friend... and see how he takes that news. I have told father that I do have friends in the ninjutsu class. He never said anything against having male friends, just that I can't date unless I'm ready to marry. **

** Naruto: We can try that. How about tomorrow?**

** Hinata: But tomorrow's Valentine's Day...**

** Naruto: I've got something planned for us, something special, don't worry. Just let your father know that a friend is coming over. **

** Hinata: You have something planned for us?** Hinata felt excited at this. She had never had an official Valentine's Day date before. She wondered what Naruto had planned.

**Naruto: Yes ;) I know that the timing sucks with what's happened to Hanabi but I just want to take your mind off of things for a couple of hours. **

** Hinata: I'd love that. Anyway, I'm on the way now.**

On arriving at Naruto's, she launched herself into his arms and kissed him passionately. She loved kissing him, loved feeling him against her body, showing him the love she had felt for him for the past year but had been unable to do anything about it until now.

He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close to him, returning the kiss just as fervently, as though they hadn't seen each other in months rather than days. The longer they kissed, the more Hinata could feel that she wanted him inside of her. And she could tell he felt the same way.

He broke the kiss, breathing heavily, his eyes wild with lust. "Let's fuck, first? Then talk?"

Hinata nodded eagerly. "Yes, please." For now, she could lose herself in him, and pretend that they were the only two people on earth.

Once they were in his bedroom, he pushed her down on the bed, then climbed on top of her and kissed her aggressively. Hinata responded by wrapping her arms around his neck, moving her body against his, though they were still clothed.

Naruto moaned into her mouth, then reached his hands up under her shirt, trailing them along her stomach before placing them on her breasts, over her bra, squeezing her breasts lightly. Hinata groaned as he massaged her, then pulled the bra down and played with her nipples while still kissing her.

They got undressed, and now were laying next to each other, naked, facing each other. Hinata had her arm around Naruto's waist, and Naruto was trailing his hand up and down her stomach, and along her breasts.

"You're so beautiful," he murmured, grabbing one of her breasts and squeezing it lightly while kissing her. "I'm so glad that you asked me to hang out that day."

Hinata nodded, wrapping one of her legs around Naruto's waist as well to pull him closer. Her bold move surprised him, and he growled, rubbing himself against her.

"I-I am, too," she squeaked as he pushed her down so that he was now on top of her, then he grabbed a condom from his bedside table and rolled it over himself.

"I know we didn't do much foreplay this time, but I'm going to fuck you now, is that okay?" he asked, positioning himself outside of her.

Hinata nodded fervently. "Yes."

He then eased himself inside of her, pushing in gently at first like he always did. Her body was getting used to him though.

As he pushed himself deep inside her, Hinata threw her head back and moaned loudly, lifting her pelvis up to meet him as he went in all the way, until she could feels balls against her.

"Oh, fuck," Naruto gasped, grabbing onto her hips. He pulled out slightly, then pushed in slowly again.

He tortured her at this pace for a few minutes before finally picking up speed, causing her to moan and grip the bed sheets tightly, the faster he went into her.

"Say my name, Hinata," Naruto grunted as he went full force.

"N-Naruto-kun..." she whimpered. She hadn't said his name during sex before.

"Say it louder!"

"Naruto-kun!" She rose her voice, and he suddenly stilled inside of her, and she felt his dick twitch, meaning he'd gotten off inside the condom.

"Wow..." he grinned, pulling himself out of her and taking the condom off him. Hinata dropped her legs onto the bed, sighing happily as she felt herself twitch as well after her orgasms.

After they got dressed, they lay next to each other, Naruto had his arms around her. Hinata snuggled her face into his chest. This was where she wanted to be, forever. In Naruto's arms, where nothing could hurt her.

"Mmm..." he murmured into her hair. "I could lay like this forever."

"Y-you read my mind," she giggled.

He grinned. "You're the best."

"No, you are." she poked him in the chest.

"You gave me a chance when no one else would. That's one thing I love about you." Naruto kissed her on the head.

Then, her smile faded as she recalled the scene when she'd left her home to go to Naruto's. "My father..." she whispered.

"What about him? What happened before you came over here?"

"H-he was saying how he's a failure as a father, and that we'll have to file a missing person's report on Hanabi tomorrow, since we haven't heard from her in a week. Once we do that, our reputation will be tarnished because we have a 'runaway' daughter/sister. At least, according to him. I don't care so much about reputation."

Naruto turned into serious mode. "I guess if you told him about me now it wouldn't be a good time."

Hinata sighed sadly. "I don't know if anytime will be a good time."

"I hope that Hanabi is okay," he continued. "She might have just fallen in with the wrong crowd and not bothered to contact anyone."

"True. Her 'normal' friends haven't heard from her either, though. That's a bit worrying." Hinata drummed her fingers against Naruto's back. "I don't know what to do about me and you, either."

"Well, like I said before, how about introducing me as a good friend that you've been talking to for a while in the martial arts class," Naruto suggested. "Surely that won't be too bad."

"I could try, he still doesn't like me hanging out with members of the opposite sex though. But that's the best we can do for now, I guess, and it's better than keeping you secret completely."

"Yeah, I think we can do that. When, though?" Naruto asked. "I'll be seeing you tomorrow night. That's...if you're not too busy with the Hanabi thing."

"Well, I can't put my life on hold, and maybe if Hanabi sees that people are looking for her, she'll give up and come back," Hinata said hopefully. "I will still see you tomorrow night. Maybe tomorrow won't be the best day to introduce you, since he might get suspicious if you take me out on Valentine's Day and all."

"Yeah, I agree. Alright, we'll pick some day next week to do it, depending on the Hanabi situation by then." Naruto kissed her chastely on the lips.

Hinata really hoped that this wouldn't be one of their last nights together.

* * *

"Father, we need to go to the police station. Hanabi's phone is going straight to voicemail," Hinata informed her father the next day. "From what I recall from watching crime shows, that's not a good sign."

Hiashi nodded. "I know. I've even tried to phone her, but got the same. Alright. Let's go now. NEJI!" he hollered for Hinata's cousin, Neji, who appeared rather quickly.

"Yes, Uncle?"

"Come with us. We're going to file a missing person's report for Hanabi." Hiashi sounded like a father defeated as he sighed, grabbing his jacket. Hinata and Neji did the same as they followed him outside into the chilly winter air.

"I don't know where that brat could have got to," Neji grumbled as he claimed the front seat, as usual.

Hinata sat in the back, in the middle seat. "Don't talk about her like that. Her behaviour is unacceptable, but what if she's in trouble?"

Neji shrugged. "I know. I'm trying not to think about it that way."

Hinata knew that Neji had his own, strange way of showing sympathy and empathy, so she didn't question him further on it as they headed towards Konoha Police Department, or KPD.

Sergeant Hatake Kakashi was assigned to the case. "Alright. You say she was last seen, that you know of, at your place?" he asked Hiashi as they sat in the interrogation room.

Hiashi nodded. "Yes. I saw her getting into a 'friends' car, as she put it. I didn't see the make of the vehicle, all I know is that it was a brown sedan, a small car of some type. It was very dim outside, the only lights being the one on the porch. The car was just barely hit by that light."

Kakashi wrote down notes as they talked. "You two had gotten in a fight, and she had run out on you, correct?"

"Yes again. She said I was being too strict and not letting her do anything 'fun'. But her idea of fun is doing drugs, drinking and having sex. She's only fifteen years old. I don't know where I went wrong." In a rare moment of vulnerability, Hiashi put his head in his hands. "She hasn't called us in a week, nor contacted anyone that we know of."

Hinata reached over to pat her father on the shoulder. She usually didn't have to comfort her father, so she wasn't really sure how to. He was always the strong one.

"Her phone is now going straight to voicemail," Neji finally spoke up. He'd been mostly silent upon arrival to the police station except to introduce himself.

Kakashi nodded, pausing for a minute to write everything down. "Do you have a photo of her?" he asked. "Recent, preferably."

"Unfortunately, the most recent photo I have of her is from her junior high school graduation last year, she is in high school, tenth grade now." Hiahsi reached for his wallet and pulled out a photo of Hanabi at her junior high school graduation. "She hasn't changed much in physical appearance since then," he added. "Just that I know now, she wears more gothic clothes, with colours like black and red and grey. I forbid her from wearing them, but she would sneak out of the house wearing normal clothes and she'd change into those goth clothes later."

"I'm sure there's more recent photos on her facebook," Hinata pointed out. "I can get some for you later. But I've noticed she hasn't been on her facebook since before her last phone call, either."

Kakashi took Hiashi's photo. "Okay, this will do for now, since we should get 'missing person' posters up right away. I'll photo copy this and get it back to you. Since we have no evidence nor crime scene, do you mind if we come to your place and search her room? There may be some clues to where she was headed."

"You have my permission." Hiashi nodded in agreement.

"If possible, could we go there today?"

"Yes."

"We should head over there now, then. If she's left her computer maybe it has information on who she last talked to online, if she was planning on going with that person, etc."

"Let's go, then." Hiashi sounded defeated, and Hinata hated to see her father this way. She really hoped that Hanabi would be found safe, and start to behave better after this after she realized what she had put her family through.

* * *

Hinata contacted Naruto a couple hours before she was due to meet up with him. The police had taken Hanabi's computer, and a few other things from her room. They did a search through the house as well, to eliminate Hiashi, Hinata and Neji as suspects.

Now Hinata was in her room, starting to get ready. She had told Hiashi that she was going out with Tenten for Valentine's Day dinner then hanging out later. Hiashi had agreed, probably because he was too exasperated and exhausted to care about much else other than Hanabi's disappearance. He told Hinata to be back by midnight. Hinata promised – she didn't want to worry her father more.

**Hinata: I'm going to start getting ready now, so I'll see you soon. Xox**

** Naruto: I can't wait. How did everything go today?**

** Hinata: They've issued an alert and put missing posters up, and said they would contact us as soon as something promising came in. They also eliminated me, father and Neji as suspects, and searched the house and Hanabi's room. **

** Naruto: Good. I really hope she is okay. **

** Hinata: Me, too. I've watched too many crime shows lately, and I know that if there is zero contact after a week, chances are not good...**

** Naruto: Well, you never know. This could be different. Maybe she just wanted to start a new life, with no ties from her old one?**

** Hinata: I guess, but she's only fifteen. She shouldn't be thinking that way. **

** Naruto: True. I don't know. But I'm looking forward to seeing you.**

** Hinata: I have until midnight, and this time we have to keep watch on the time, because I don't want to worry father.**

** Naruto: Alright. See you in a bit, then. Sorry I can't pick you up like a proper date.**

** Hinata: I know, it's okay. See you soon. Xoxxo**

** Naruto: xoxox**

Hinata sighed and went to her closet to pick out an outfit. She choose something that would be proper for a dinner date with a friend, (as what her father believed she was doing) but at the same time still kind of fancy to see her boyfriend with. She wore a black, long-sleeve blouse which had red roses on it, and black skinny jeans, along with her black boots that were riding-style and hit just below the knee. She also kept her makeup neutral, as usual.

As she headed downstairs, her father barely acknowledged her. He just glanced up at her, nodded, then went back down to his laptop which was perched on the kitchen counter. Hinata guessed he was working on something to keep himself occupied while the search for Hanabi continued.

On arriving at Naruto's apartment building, she parked in her usual spot and headed into the building. Sometimes she got lucky, and someone else would be either entering or leaving the building so they could let her in without Naruto having to come open the door with his key. This time, she did, and she went up to his floor in the elevator, feeling a bit excited to see him. She wondered what he had planned for their first Valentine's Day together.

* * *

**Astrocam: Will they find Hanabi? Will she be okay? Will Hinata ever tell her father about Naruto? What does Naruto have planned for their first Valentine's Day? Stay tuned ;)**


	7. Hostage Situation

**Astrocam: Well, another chapter up. Thank you to everyone who's reviewed, favourited and followed. I'm glad people seem to be enjoying my story. I don't have too much to say this time around, so without further ado, here's chapter seven.**

* * *

**Chapter Seven – Hostage Situation**

* * *

**Naruto's POV**

Naruto felt helpless whenever Hinata talked about her family drama. He knew that her father was strict so she was scared to let him know that Naruto was her friend (well, more than a friend) but Naruto didn't want to be kept secret forever. He wanted to be able to go on public dates with her without fear of someone she knew spotting them. She had to come clean sometime. But the situation with Hanabi wasn't making it any better. There was concern for Hanabi's well-being, as she hadn't been heard from in a week. All Naruto wanted to do was make Hinata feel better and take her mind off of things for a while.

He finished setting up everything just as Hinata texted him, saying she was on the way up to his apartment. He stood in the closed doorway of his apartment, surveying everything.

He'd taken it upon himself to make her a special dinner of pork ramen (it was his favourite food) and had decorated his entire apartment in a Valentine's Day theme. He'd set up his kitchen table with red placemats, nice wine glasses, heart confetti and white, vanilla-smelling candles as the centerpiece. He had a light dimmer on his lights, so he'd dimmed them as low as he could. There were smaller, fake tea-light candles spread out in random places around the rooms.

For his bedroom, there were red and silver glitter streamers hanging from his bedroom doorway. He had put a couple of vanilla-smelling candles in there as well, and again more fake tea lights scattered on his dresser and bedside tables. His comforter was a cream colour, so he'd added a red and white blanket with hearts as the pattern at the foot of his bed. He'd also covered the bed in red rose petals. There was a red rug on the floor beside the bed.

But the masterpiece was on the bed itself. Hinata's gift, a bouquet of red roses was set up nicely, still wrapped in the package in which he'd bought it at the store, beside a medium-sized Valentine's Day gift bag. Inside the gift bag, was her favourite chocolate, a small teddy bear, a cute card, and a heart necklace. Naruto knew that she would somehow have to hide these gifts from her dad, because he would surely get suspicious if she walked into their house with a bouquet of roses, so Naruto had decided to offer to let her keep them at his place. Perhaps the teddy bear and the chocolate she could get away with explaining. Nothing wrong with "friends" giving each other gifts on Valentine's Day, right?

He heard a knock on his door and his heartbeat spiked, as it always did when he knew it was Hinata knocking. Turning around, he took a deep breath and opened the door.

Hinata took his breath away, as she always did whenever he saw her. He'd never seen a girl look so beautiful with such little effort. Back when he'd had a crush on Sakura, he'd been too blind to even look at other girls. Now, he saw it in a whole new light.

"H-hi," she blushed, looking down at the floor.

Naruto grabbed her and pulled her into a bear hug, not caring if anyone came down the hallway and saw them. Seconds later, he closed the door and brought her into the apartment. He released her so she could see all that he'd done.

She stood there silently, as if unsure what to say or do as she took everything in. When she turned to look at him again, Naruto thought he saw tears in her eyes.

"N-Naruto-kun..." she murmured, wiping at her eyes, being careful not to smudge her makeup. "T-this is too much. Thank you."

"Better not thank me until you've had my ramen," he grinned at her, joking around to lighten her mood.

"Oh, I-I'm sure it can't be that bad." she smiled back at him, sniffling a bit before gathering her composure.

"Well, let's eat." Naruto helped her take off her jacket and waited until she took off her boots before leading her into the kitchen. He pulled out one of the chairs from the table and let her sit down before going to get her a bowl of his ramen which was still staying warm on the stove. Once he had a bowl set in front of her, he poured her some wine, then got his own food. She waited until he was seated across from her before starting to eat.

"T-this is really good," she nodded in approval as she tasted the ramen, lifting some noodles with her chopsticks and placing them in her mouth.

"Thanks. I got the recipe from a favourite chef of mine. But I still go to his ramen shop quite often." Naruto grinned, glad that she was enjoying the food he'd cooked.

They continued to eat and talk, and Naruto was excited for her to see the gifts that he'd gotten her. When they were finished, Naruto put the bowls in the sink, then helped her stand and took her hand as they headed to his bedroom.

Once inside, she gasped.

"Oh...my..." she hesitated, as if unsure what to say about the gifts on his bed.

"Well, come on, let's open them." Naruto pulled her over to the bed and they sat. "I know we haven't been dating for long, but I thought I'd do this anyways, since it's my first Valentine's Day with anyone."

Hinata grinned widely, and Naruto could see her cheeks were turning red. He leaned down to give her a kiss before picking up the roses and giving them to her.

"Naruto...t-these..." she choked up, as if trying not to cry. She sniffed the roses and held them close to her. "I l-love them. I have never gotten flowers from a guy before. Or, anyone, really."

"I know that you probably can't sneak those into your house, so you can keep them here. The other stuff should be able to be passed off as gifts from a friend." Naruto shrugged.

Hinata nodded. "You've thought of everything. Here, put them in water." She handed the still wrapped bouquet to him. "I'll wait until you return to open the rest of the gifts."

Naruto took the roses, headed back to the kitchen and quickly found the vase he'd bought specifically for the roses. He filled it with water, unwrapped the flowers and placed them gently into the vase, then stepped back to admire them. Yes, they looked beautiful. He took the vase back into his bedroom where he set it with the flowers on his dresser.

Hinata was staring at the other gifts as though she wanted to jump right into them, so Naruto sat next to her again and gave her permission. "Go on, open the rest."

When the gift opening was finished, Hinata had put her heart necklace on immediately, and they sat on the bed while sharing the chocolate, eating it as dessert. Hinata told Naruto that she would just explain to her father that she'd picked out the necklace herself, and the rest of the gifts were from Tenten.

Suddenly, her eyes went wide as she reached into her pocket to pull out her vibrating phone, then read who was calling. She answered immediately, and Naruto guessed it must be important since she never touched her phone during their time together.

"Father...I-I'm with Tenten...yes, we are at her place now. Why? O-oh!" she gasped, lifting a hand to her mouth. "Oh, my God, I'll be there right away!"

She hung up the phone and there were fresh tears in her eyes, only this time, not tears of joy. Naruto's heart began beating fast, anxious.

"Hinata? What's wrong?" he asked, reaching over to take her hand.

Hinata stood up, and Naruto stood with her, still holding her hand. "I-I have to go. They found Hanabi...but she's...in trouble."

"She's still alive?" Relief washed over Naruto, but he remained calm.

"Yes, a-alive, but not sure for how much longer." Hinata wiped at her eyes. "I'm so sorry for having to cut our evening short. I will update you on everything as I get the news, okay?"

Naruto nodded, giving her a hug. "It's okay, I understand. We can reschedule this for another time," he assured her.

"It's just that...you put so much work into everything, I feel so bad for leaving...I really wish you could come with me..." Hinata sobbed into his shirt.

"Hey, shh, calm down, you can't drive when you're crying like this. Is Hanabi in the hospital?"

"No, t-they found her...b-but she's been kidnapped. And tortured all this time. They haven't been able to get into the house where she's being held, because the guy who's holding her is waving around a gun. It's a stand off right now." Hinata clutched onto Naruto's shirt, as if she didn't want to let him go. "But...I'm sorry. I'll take my gifts." She released him to grab the bag of her gifts and they went out to the entry way so that she could get ready to leave. She put on her jacket and boots, then turned to hug Naruto again. "T-thank you Naruto, for everything. I will give you your gift the next time I see you."

Naruto nodded, stunned at the news that Hanabi had been held hostage. He hugged Hinata back, hard, and gave her a passionate good-bye kiss. "It's okay," he murmured, brushing her hair from her face. "Hanabi will be okay. Text me ASAP."

Hinata nodded, leaning her face against his hand for a second before breaking away and backing up towards the door. "I will. I love you."

"I love you, too." Naruto gave a small wave and she left, closing the door behind her.

The empty feeling tugged at his heart again, as it did every time she left. She was going through a family crisis right now, but he felt helpless. He wanted to be over at Hinata's place with her, to be able to comfort her as the news about Hanabi came in.

He glanced around the kitchen with the Valentine's Day decorations still up, sighed sadly at the failed evening, and proceeded to clean up everything, lastly blowing out each candle one by one, letting the room fall into darkness.

* * *

**Hinata's POV**

Hinata felt horrible as she drove away from Naruto's apartment. Not only for her sister, but for ditching Naruto after he had gone through this trouble for her. She had lied about a gift – she had not gotten him anything. But now, after seeing what he had done for her, she felt more compelled to try and do something in return. She had not expected him to go all out like that.

Her phone vibrated against her leg again, and she thought that was odd. Normally her father didn't call her twice in a row. It must be more news on Hanabi.

Even though texting and driving, as well as calling and driving were illegal, Hinata reached into her pocket and grabbed her phone, answering it. "H-hello?"

"Hinata! It's a disaster! The guy is shooting up his house and the officers are nervous to go inside. I don't blame them, and I don't want them to get hurt, but my daughter is in there!" Hiashi sounded as panicked as he did before.

"H-how did they find her?" Hinata wanted to know.

"A tip from a neighbour, who said she saw a girl who looked like Hanabi being escorted to and from this house by this guy for the past week. She didn't realize it until we posted the photos of Hanabi saying she was missing. I'm going to the house right now, you should meet me there."

"But father, it's dangerous!" Hinata pulled over to the side of the road so she wouldn't be caught talking on the phone while driving.

"The guy is inside the house, not outside. Hanabi's life is in danger. Neji is coming with me"

"W-where's the house?" Hinata asked for the address, starting to feel scared. Why would her father want to put his family in more danger? Surely the cops wouldn't let them close to the house anyway.

Hiashi told her the address, and then hung up the phone. Hinata followed the roads until she came upon what was obviously the house. There were four cop cars, all with their lights on, outside the house, parked on either side of the street, along with an ambulance. Some curious bystanders were watching the action, and Hinata saw neighbours peeking their heads out of windows. She spotted her father's car already there.

Hinata parked a bit farther down the road, so she had to walk for a minute before reaching the scene. She stayed on the opposite side of the road from the house, standing on the sidewalk, hearing a couple of gunshots coming from inside the house made her jump. Any one of those gunshots could end Hanabi's life at any second. She'd never felt so helpless.

The cops were holding their guns towards the house and shouting.

"Release the girl and you won't get hurt!"

"Put down the gun and come quietly!"

"You have the option of not ending this violently!"

Hinata shuddered, wrapping her arms around herself. It was chilly outside, and she wished Naruto could be here to comfort her.

More gunshots. This guy was not going to come without a fight.

"Please, Hanabi, stay safe," Hinata murmured to herself, praying for her sister's safety. This was like a scene straight from a movie.

"Hinata! Thank God." Hiashi and Neji finally found her, and in a surprising move, Hiashi hugged Hinata.

Hinata just blinked in surprise but hugged her father back. The hug was quick and he released her.

"Hanabi's still inside, I have no idea if she's alive, the officers haven't seen or heard her. Kakashi is there." Hiashi pointed to a silver-haired man who was near the front of the house, holding his gun towards a window, and Hinata recognized Kakashi.

"This is insane," Neji mumbled, but again he showed no emotion. Hinata knew he cared for Hanabi, he just had a different way of showing it. As it was, he was staring at the house with eagle eyes, as if thinking of a way he could get in himself.

"If something doesn't happen soon..." Hiashi folded his arms across his chest. "I don't know how the outcome of this will be."

Suddenly, another gunshot rang out, and one of the officers shouted, "He's shot himself! Get inside now!"

Immediately, five of the police officers, including Kakashi, barged into the house, kicking the door down. Hinata waited anxiously, and, after what seemed like forever, they escorted a small girl out.

"Hanabi!" Hiashi cried, running across towards the house. Hinata and Neji followed.

One of the officers outside the house stopped him. "Sir, she's injured and scared, she needs to get to a hospital right away. You can meet her there, okay? Are you her father?"

"Yes, I'm her father. This is her older sister Hinata and cousin Neji."

"You are the ones who reported her missing. Alright, I'm glad she's safe and the outcome was good for you. But she's getting into an ambulance right now, you can go to the hospital." The officer said kindly. "The man who had her is dead."

Hiashi didn't like this, but he nodded and watched Hanabi get into the ambulance before heading off towards his own car. Neji decided to stay with Hinata.

"Thank God she is okay, but what is the extent of her injuries?" Neji wondered aloud.

Hinata shook her head as they made their way down the sidewalk towards his car. "I don't know. I'm sure we'll find out. I have to text Naruto. I feel bad because I had to leave him. He understood but..."

"Well, if you'd like, I can stall Uncle and you can go back to Naruto's after you see Hanabi in the hospital," Neji offered.

They reached Hinata's car and got inside. "R-really?" Hinata turned to Neji. "I'll see what father says about me staying with Tenten for the night. Since I know father will likely stay at the hospital."

"Well, we can 'both' stay at Tenten's. I don't want to be in the mansion by myself all night waiting for news." Neji winked at Hinata. "I'm sure if I am there as well, he'll agree to it, and you can go off to Naruto's."

Hinata reached over to hug her cousin, in another rare display of affection. "Thank you Neji, for having my back. I owe you. I'm going to introduce Naruto to father soon, but as a friend."

Neji shrugged, patting Hinata on the back. "Don't mention it. I also see that Naruto got you gifts for Valentine's Day," he gestured to the Valentine's bag on the back seat.

Hinata pulled away from Neji to show him the heart necklace as well. "Yes, he even decorated his apartment and made me some wonderful ramen. He gave me roses as well but I obviously can't bring them home, so they will stay with him. Before we head out, I'll call him."

* * *

**Naruto's POV**

Just as Naruto was cleaning up the last of the Valentine's stuff in his bedroom, his phone rang. He checked it, seeing it was Hinata. He hadn't gotten an update from her since she'd left to go deal with the Hanabi situation.

"Hey, Hinata, is Hanabi okay?" he asked, sitting down on his bed with the streamers from his bedroom door still in his hand.

"Yes, I will tell you what happened later, but she got out and is now at the hospital."

Naruto sighed with relief. "Whew. I'm glad. How are you?"

"Fine, u-um, I was just wondering if I would be able to come back – and spend the night with you tonight."

Naruto went silent for a few seconds. "Did you tell Hiashi about us?"

"N-no, that's not it. I know that Father is going to be at the hospital all night with Hanabi and Neji and I don't want to be stuck in that mansion waiting for news. So Neji told me that he could more than likely go to Tenten's, then we will tell my father that I am going there as well. Surely if Neji is going, father will let me stay the night too. Anyways, Neji said that as he's going to Tenten's, he'd cover for me if I wanted to stay the night with you."

Naruto's heart began to beat faster at this news. "Well, obviously that's fine with me, if you can convince your father to let you go to Tenten's."

"I'm sure it will be okay. I'm going to the hospital first, then will pack some overnight things and meet you at your place. It may be a bit late, around ten PM or later. It's already going on eight PM right now. I was only at your place for an hour earlier."

"That's fine with me." Naruto agreed. At least this would give him time to get the decorations back up in his apartment so Hinata wouldn't feel worse about leaving him earlier. "So, just let me know what Hiashi says, and we'll go from there."

"Right. I'll ask him when we are at the hospital, which is where we are going right now. Depending on when we hear the latest news on Hanabi's health and when we are able to see her, we could be an hour or so there."

"Okay. I hope everything will be good, with you and Hanabi. Tell Neji I said thanks for having our backs." Naruto got up from his bed and began to attempt to hang the streamers back up using one hand, as he was talking on the phone with the other.

"Will do. I will let you know as soon as possible."

"Alright. I love you, babe."

"I love you, too."

They hung up and Naruto rushed around to get his apartment back in order. Hinata called about a half hour later to say that she would be on her way soon, and that Hiashi had agreed to letting her and Neji stay the night at Tenten's. She'd also gotten to see Hanabi, and her sister was quite beat up, but she would make a full recovery. Right now she had fallen unconscious, which was why Hiashi was staying the night, so he could be near her if she woke up during the night.

Naruto began to feel excited again. Hinata would be staying the night for the first time. He'd have her all to himself. Even if she wasn't up for sex because of what was currently happening with her family, at least he would be able to spend more time with her than just a few hours.

His mind raced and he couldn't wait to see her again. Maybe their evening wouldn't be a complete disaster after all.

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**Astrocam: Poor Hanabi. At least she was found alive. Sorry for the lack of lemons in this chapter, I felt it wouldn't be too appropriate considering the situation that was happening, plus I wanted to focus more on the drama. Anyway, hope you enjoyed. **


	8. Our Night

**Astrocam: Hey guys, I would have got this up sooner for Valentine's Day, but I was busy on Valentine's Day for most of the day and didn't have time to write. Also, had finished it last night and was just going to post it when we lost our power due to a major blizzard. We got the power back about 45 minutes ago so here I am, posting this after a night of freezing my ass off while trying to sleep (I'm still pretty cold but at least our power and heat's back) lol. **

**Just something I wanted to address, I feel like people have had something to complain about in almost every chapter that I post. Well, I do know that I can't please everybody. If this story isn't living up to your expectations, you can feel free to unfollow. I do accept criticism, but sometimes it gets a little discouraging when someone's complaining every chapter. I'm not pointing at a specific person here, so don't feel like I am. I'm also not saying that you can't leave a negative comment either, because that would be unrealistic. I just wanted to talk about how I feel about this. ****Again, I can't please everyone no matter how hard I try. That's basically what I'm trying to say here. If everyone was saying this story was horrible, I would probably stop writing, but I do know that some people still like it. So I'll keep posting. If someone makes a suggestion or points out a mistake, I'll try to correct it. **

**Anyway, with that out of the way, hope people enjoy this. **

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**Chapter Eight – Our Night**

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**Hinata's POV**

"Oh, Hanabi..." Hinata murmured upon seeing her sister for the first time since they'd arrived at the hospital. Her and Neji had gone into the room together and Hiashi was already there, sitting on a chair next to Hanabi's bed. The girl was unconscious.

"She was terrified," Hiashi told them. "They had to calm her down. All she kept saying when she first got here was, was 'he beat me, where is he, is he after me'. It broke my heart. We asked her who 'he' was, but then someone told her that he was dead and she screamed that he was in the room with us. That's when they calmed her."

Hinata nodded solemnly, and approached Hanabi's bed. Hanabi's face was swollen, her eye black and bruised, her lip had been busted but they'd stitched it. She had a lump on her forehead, and probably other injuries that were covered by bandages or the blanket.

"I can't believe this happened to her," Neji said in disbelief. "I wonder who was the "friend" who picked her up that night, if it was the guy who hurt her, or someone else." Neji put air quotes around the word "friend".

"Whoever it was, I want the asshole incarcerated for a long, long time," Hiashi growled protectively. "At least the guy who hurt her is dead now."

It was then that Neji brought up the idea of him and Hinata staying at Tenten's place for the night. Hiashi agreed, and said he would call them if something changed with Hanabi.

Hinata called Naruto to let him know she was on her way. At least, she was earlier than she'd expected to be.

She knocked on his door again, and had an odd sense of de ja vu. This time, however, she was carrying a backpack with her things for the night.

He opened his door, still wearing the same clothes he'd worn when he saw her earlier, which was a white t-shirt and blue jeans. Guys could look so good even when they dressed simply.

"Hey!" Naruto grinned, grabbing her in a hug again. "I'm so glad you'll get to spend the night tonight! Although...I am sorry for the circumstances."

"I know, but Hanabi will be okay." Hinata snuggled against Naruto's chest, just wanting to spend the night in his arms.

"Well, we still have a couple hours left of Valentine's Day. What did you want to do?" Naruto asked her.

Hinata shrugged. "Watch a movie?"

"Alright. I have a few." Naruto kept his arm around her shoulders as they went into his bedroom. "I have only one chick flick," he told her as she sat on his bed and he went to the stand that his TV was sitting on, and opened one of the doors. "It's_ 50 First Dates._ Hey, I like Adam Sandler."

Hinata laughed. "Alright, that sounds good."

They changed their clothes into pajamas and Naruto made up some hot chocolate. He'd also apparently run to the store and bought more Valentine's chocolate, because he brought some more into the bedroom in a bowl.

"More chocolate?" Hinata grinned as he sat beside her on the bed.

"Yep. Can't have enough, right?" Naruto popped a chocolate into his mouth as he set the bowl in between them and grabbed the remote to turn the movie on.

They snuggled under the covers, well, as much as they could snuggle while a bowl of chocolate candies was between them. During the movie, Hinata told Naruto all that had happened while she'd been at the scene of Hanabi's rescue. She could tell that Naruto felt bad that he hadn't been there for her, but she didn't care. He was here for her now, that's all that mattered.

"I love you," Naruto murmured about halfway through the movie. They had eaten as much chocolate as they wanted, and had set the bowl on the floor so they could get close. He took her hand and stroked her knuckles under the covers.

"I love you, too." Hinata nuzzled against his chest. She knew that it wasn't "true" love yet, merely infatuation as they had only been dating a month. But no harm in saying the words. She did mean them. She loved him. She just wasn't "deeply in love" yet.

"Are we ready to tell your father?" Naruto asked her cautiously.

Hinata nodded. "Yes. I think so. I'm just afraid he'll forbid me from seeing you, ever."

"If that happens, well...I don't know, we'll think of something," Naruto assured her.

"I'm sure we will," Hinata agreed. She didn't want to lose Naruto, and then end up dating and marrying someone she wasn't truly happy with, only to please her father's standards. "So, the next day we both have off, I'll bring you to my place."

"Sounds good. I'll try to make a good impression, promise." Naruto winked at her. "I have been known to pull pranks. But don't worry, that was in my middle and elementary school years."

Hinata giggled. At least he was making her feel better and she could relax now that her family drama was over with.

"This Valentine's Day was the best, despite my family drama" she sighed happily. "Thank you for everything."

"Oh, you're welcome. You were worth it." Naruto kissed her on the top of the head.

Hinata blushed, and they continued to watch the movie while cuddling. They did not have sex that night, as Hinata wasn't in the mood, but Hinata was just happy to be with him.

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**Naruto's POV**

Naruto prepared himself to go meet Hinata's father, Hiashi. Hinata had told her father that a friend was coming over, she just didn't exactly say that friend was male. Hinata told Naruto that Hiashi probably just assumed the friend was Tenten.

Naruto was nervous. What if Hiashi forbid him from seeing Hinata ever again? What if Hiashi didn't like him because he wasn't a high-class citizen with a ritzy job? What if Hiashi thought he wasn't good for Hinata?

All these thoughts and more were running through Naruto's mind as he adjusted his white, button-up shirt which he was wearing with his nicest, dark blue jeans and black sneakers. He felt his outfit sort of looked smart.

"Alright," he took a deep breath. "I'm going to leave now. Impress that bastard or else you'll never get to see Hinata again." After a last look in the mirror, Naruto turned and strode out of the bathroom towards the entryway of his apartment to get his coat and car keys. "Be confident, be strong, don't look nervous," he told himself. "I'm a cashier at a grocery store. I can handle this. I've dealt with all types of people before."

After he left the apartment and got into his car, he did some more self-pep talks while on his way to Hinata's using the directions she had texted him.

Finally, he pulled into a large, half-moon driveway and was staring up at the Hyuuga mansion.

"Wow, her family really does have money," Naruto mused to himself. "No wonder she didn't want to tell me about this right away, and worry that I'd only want her for this."

He texted Hinata to announce he was here, and nervously stepped out of his car. He could feel his palms sweating already so he stuck them in a snowbank for a second. Better to have cold hands than sweaty hands to shake the hand of your girlfriend's father for the first time.

She replied to his text, telling him she was waiting at the door, and he took a few deep breaths before steeling himself to act normal, and strode purposefully up the steps onto the deck, towards the front door, where he knocked on it.

She opened seconds later, and he resisted the urge to hug her, instead stepped inside, his heart beating hard in his chest.

"Hello, Naruto-kun," she smiled at him, and he could see that she was nervous as well. "Father is in the kitchen, which is the room to the left. I told him your gender and name. He seemed cautious but told me he has to meet you first."

Naruto nodded. At least that was a step and some weight off his shoulders. "Okay. Good. Let's go, then." He removed his sneakers and jacket, and Hinata led the way into the kitchen, where a tall, pale, black-haired man, who's hair was almost as long as Hinata's, and had the same unusual lavender eyes as her, lifted his head from his laptop as he was sitting at the kitchen table.

"F-father..." Hinata stammered, then cleared her throat. "Father. This is Uzumaki Naruto, my friend from ninjutsu class."

Hiashi stood up instantly, and Naruto bowed slightly, a formal greeting. Hiashi nodded and approached Naruto. "Hello, young man. Hinata has told me about a friend she's met in ninjutsu class. I assume that's you."

"Yes sir, that's me." Naruto answered in a clear voice. He surprised himself.

"What are your intentions with my daughter?" Hiashi asked right away.

Hinata gasped, and Naruto saw her blush ten shades of red, but focused on impressing her father. "We are just friends."

"Alright. What is your occupation?"

_Here's where he cans me and thinks I'm useless for Hinata to be around... _Naruto gulped, but again answered confidently. "I'm a cashier at the grocery store. I work twelve-hour shifts, usually from open until close, but it gives me a few days off a week."

Hiashi eyed Naruto for a moment. "A cashier. But twelve-hour shifts are impressive. Shows that you are hard working and dedicated. Good lad. Well, I'll dismiss you to be with my daughter. Nice to meet you." Hiashi shook Naruto's hand before walking away.

Naruto breathed a huge sigh of relief, trying to calm his pounding heart. "Wow. I had no idea how nerve-wracking that would be." He smiled at Hinata, then she turned and led the way through the mansion.

"I'm so happy he approved!" Hinata grinned, looking back at him as they climbed a set of rather large stairs. "So long as he continues to think we are just friends, he should be fine with you coming here."

"Alright, that sounds easy enough." Naruto felt light-headed and giddy, as though he had just done something brave. It was probably the adrenaline rush after being so nervous to meet Hinata's father. "By the way, how's Hanabi?" he asked her.

"She could be out of the hospital in a couple of days," Hinata told him. "She has a broken hand, lots of cuts and bruises, and a couple of bruised ribs. Apparently, according to her, the jerk beat her often and sexually assaulted her."

"Wow..." Naruto was shocked at what had happened to Hinata's younger sister. "I'm glad he's dead."

"Me, too." Hinata agreed. "People like him don't have remorse for what they've done, so no matter how long he rots in a prison, he'd never feel bad for what he's done to my sister."

Naruto nodded. "So true. And, he won't ever have the chance to harm anyone again."

"Exactly. Well..." Hinata paused outside a door in the middle of a hallway. "Here's my bedroom." She opened the door, leading the way inside.

Naruto liked Hinata's room instantly. It wasn't over done, and showed no signs of her family's wealth. It was just an average bedroom, same as his, although maybe slightly fancier than his. "Nice room," he commented. The walls were pale blue, with white frames around the two windows, and hardwood floor. Her bed had a blue and grey comforter and the headboards looked like they matched the wooden dressers.

"Yeah. It is nice. I like my room a lot. I've spent a lot of time in here." Hinata smiled at him, then closed the door behind them to give them more privacy. "I'm glad to finally show it to you."

"I'm glad to finally get to see it." Naruto walked around for a minute, admiring her simple décor and few photos she had around before sitting on her bed. She sat beside him and he put an arm around her waist.

Then, as he began to lay down, bringing Hinata with him, his elbow landed on something hard, that was sticking out from underneath Hinata's pillow. He glanced up at Hinata, and her face suddenly went red.

"O-oh, that's..." she grabbed for the thing, which was obviously a notepad, and clutched it to her chest.

"What, is it a diary? If it is I won't look while you put it away somewhere."

"No, not exactly..." Hinata sighed, then hesitated, as if she wanted to show him something but wasn't sure if she should. Then she just gave up and handed it over to him, looking away while he took it and read the title that was on the first page.

It was a bucket list.

"Ah, I see you've made a bucket list," he commented. "I don't have one, but I probably should give myself more goals to look forward to. Mind if I read it? Maybe it'll inspire me."

She blushed again, but shook her head.

_ 2015 Bucket List_

_\- Get a real job, no matter if Father thinks I am a good fit or not.  
__\- Earn my blue belt in Ninjutsu.  
__\- Travel to more faraway places.  
__\- Go to more parties and hang out with my friends despite what Father says.  
_**_\- Lose my virginity, but not just on a one night stand. With someone special of course.  
_**_\- Prove to Father that I can take care of myself, I am twenty years old after all.  
__\- Get more hobbies such as writing, reading, or some hands-on hobby.  
__\- Go swimming at a beach and wear a bikini for the first time.  
__\- Get a cute, simple butterfly tattoo on my upper right shoulderblade.  
__\- If Hanabi's behaviour gets out of control, I need to tell Father no matter what he will accuse me of. He can't be blind to her forever. Besides, she might need help. It's for her own good.  
_**_\- Ask Naruto to hang out with me.__(HE AGREED!)  
__\- Kiss Naruto (and maybe lose my virginity to him too – but I can't think too far)._**

Naruto blinked as he stared at the last two items on the list. Different emotions boiled up inside of him. He wasn't sure how to feel. "So...you asking me to hang out was only something to cross off your bucket list?" he asked quietly, not sure if Hinata had just been using him all this time.

"N-no!" she blurted out. "Please, Naruto-kun. I was being silly when I wrote that list. I mean, I'm not using you. The reason those things are on the list was because, well, as you know, I've liked you for a long time. And I thought...maybe it would give me more courage to actually ask you to hang out. I had no idea you would even agree, let alone become my boyfriend and have sex with me."

"I know you've liked me for a long time. But now that you've crossed this off your list, are you going to get rid of me?" Naruto fretted, running his fingers across Hinata's neat handwriting on the page.

"N-no, again. Please believe me. I love you. And I mean that. You're not just something to cross off my list. You know how shy I am. It took a lot of courage to ask you to hang out. Which is why I took so long to do it." Hinata grabbed his arm and cuddled against him.

Naruto sighed, deciding that he shouldn't be upset with Hinata for adding him to a list of things she wanted to do. He knew that her feelings for him were sincere. "Alright. I just have a fear of being used, as it's happened to me before. Girls would mess with my feelings for them and then just brush me off without giving me a reason why. It was like, one day they could be super nice, the next they just gave me the cold shoulder and never talked to me again. Or they would put me in the friendzone like Sakura did, and go after someone else better. That's why I had such a hard time finding anyone, until you."

"I'm not like that, Naruto-kun. I promise." Hinata kissed his cheek, but then something awakened inside of him, and he turned and grabbed her by the shoulders, kissing her full on the lips.

After a moment, he pulled away. Suddenly, she took charge, and pushed him down onto the bed, so that he was now laying on his back while she straddled him, pressing herself against his excitement and moving against him.

"Wow..." he groaned. "Are you sure you want to do it here? Now?"

"My door locks from the outside," Hinata assured him. "We should try and be quiet though, in case someone walks by the door."

"I did bring a condom, just in case." Naruto winked at her.

With that, Hinata sat still and reached down for the hem of her shirt, pulling it up over her head and tossing it onto the floor. Naruto almost drooled at the sight of her full breasts and flat stomach. He'd missed being intimate with her, it had been a few days at least. They hadn't had sex the last time he'd seen her, on Valentine's Day.

Naruto then removed his own shirt, and she got up off of him, allowing him to take off his pants while she took off her pants, bra and underwear as well. They crawled back onto the bed, but this time Naruto was on top.

He made out with her passionately, grabbing both her breasts in his hands, squeezing them, causing her to let out a quiet moan and gripping her nails into his back. He was naked too, so he let his erection brush against her sex to tease her while he fingered, licked and sucked on her nipples. She appeared impatient, as she reached down to grab him and without warning, forced him inside of her, without a condom.

"Whoa!" he gasped as he felt himself enter her. "Are you sure?" he panted, pausing to gaze into her lavender eyes.

She nodded. "I trust you to pull out."

"Alright." Naruto would have felt safer with a condom, but it didn't hurt to do it without once in a while. So long as they used a condom the majority of the time.

_It only takes one time, one mistake... _he reminded himself as he thrust in and out of her while still playing with her breasts. _But I won't let that happen._

Afterward, they lay next to each other, panting as if they had run a marathon. Naruto had pulled out and released himself onto Hinata's stomach, so he was confident that she wouldn't get pregnant. She seemed to feel content, too, as she lay naked against him, pressing her breasts against his chest.

"So, about your bucket list. I saw one of the items was that you wanted to travel to more faraway places. Well, I haven't told you this, but I have a very good friend in Suna." Naruto had a plan forming in his brain. "His name is Sabaku no Gaara. He's the President of Suna, actually."

Hinata stared wide-eyed at him. "Y-you're friends with the president of Suna? How did he become president at such a young age? I'm assuming he's our age. And how did you become friends with him?"

"It's a long story, and I'd rather not tell you when we're still naked," he laughed. "Let's get dressed so I can tell you more about Gaara, and about my plans to travel with you."

Hinata grinned at him, then kissed him and they got up off the bed to get dressed and more comfortable.

Naruto told Hinata the plan as it formed in his mind, and at the same time, began telling her the history of Gaara, how he'd met Gaara, and how Gaara had grown to become president of an entire country at such a young age. His heart swelled the more he talked about Gaara. He missed his friend, and hoped that soon, him and Hinata could actually plan a trip to Suna so he could see his friend again.

He had also decided that he wanted to help Hinata fulfill as many things on her list as he possibly could, to make this a year of accomplishments for her.

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**Astrocam: Now that Naruto's seen Hinata's list, he wants to help her fulfill things on her list that she would have had a hard time doing by herself. And, we'll get introduced to a new character soon, namely my favourite character in the entire Naruto series, Gaara :3 Don't worry, I'm not gonna make this into some cheesy love triangle, as I'm sure many people are going to think. Sometimes though, you gotta admit, love triangles make a story a bit more interesting :P but mine's not going in that direction.**

**Anyway, hope you enjoyed. Next chapter you'll learn about Gaara. **


	9. Author's Note

Hey guys,

I'm sorry about the lack of updates for the past month (wow, has it been a month already?). It's just that I've hit a roadblock with this story. I feel like I'm hitting the dreaded writer's block in general, even working on other things. I'm trying to write the next chapter but I don't know what I want to happen from here. Just debating on how I want this story to play out. Sorry if I've disappointed anyone.

I'm going to try and update once a week, at least, if I can get in the flow again. I should set deadlines, like have a chapter uploaded each Thursday or something, but I don't know if I can make that commitment. I'll see how things go as I write this chapter. Again I apologize, I know how it's frustrating when authors don't update a story that you've enjoyed reading. I promise I'm working on it.


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